Travel

Virgin Galactic reveals new ‘Gateway to Space’ in New Mexico


The Gaia lounge at Gateway to Space, Spaceport America, New Mexico (Picture: PA/Virgin Galactic)

Anyone who’s taken a Virgin train recently might be tempted to wonder if, instead of arsing around in space, it might be a better use of Richard Branson’s time to sort out that weird smell the carriages all have.

At the very least, he could get rid of that annoying anthropomorphised toilet that talks to you about your ‘hopes and dreams’ while you’re trying to take a p*ss.

But, like it or not, Virgin Galactic is very much going ahead. The enterprise has just unveiled its Gateway to Space, in New Mexico, the point from which its future commercial space flights will depart.

Designed by British architecture firm Foster + Partners (of the Gherkin fame), the building comprises two storeys.

The spaceport is now ‘operationally functional’ (Picture: PA/Virgin Galactic)

The first floor is called Gaia, who is the Greek god which represents Earth and also the name which all psytrance raves legally have to go by. It contains the departure lounge.

It has to be said, it doesn’t look particularly space-agey. With warm colours, Scandinavian furniture, and plenty of natural light, it has the slightly anodyne vibe of a first-class lounge in an airport.

The design is quite Scandi, no? (Picture: PA/Virgin Galactic)

Which is essentially what it is: tickets are estimated to cost £200,000 so it’s hard to imagine Virgin Galactic will be doing budget flights any time soon.

The second floor is called Cirra (which is Latin for ‘a lock of hair’ and also a type of cloud…struggling to see the symbolism here) and contains the mission control centre.

The design is airy and white-heavy, so much so that design director Jeremy Brown compared the experience of ascending from one floor the other to ‘rising through the clouds and flying.’

We don’t see the port offering budget flights any time soon (Picture: PA/Virgin Galactic)

According to CEO George Whitesides, this launch is intended to signify that the project is ‘operationally functional’. But when will it actually be ready?

Well, if you’re able splash out £200k, then you may be able to jet into space as soon as 2020.

But Branson has made some wild promises before about when it will be ready, so maybe take that with a pinch of salt. Also, the experience only guarantees two minutes of weightlessness, so maybe not worth it, tbh.

MORE: Space tourism a step closer after successful flight for Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic

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