The Federal Aviation Administration has given Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic the green light to begin flying customers to the edge of space

the staff of the Ridgewood blog

Ridgewood NJ, Virgin Galactic has received approval to begin flying customers to the edge of space. The approval follows a successful test flight last month. It is valid through to July 2022 for missions launching from Spaceport America in New Mexico or the Mojave Air and Space Port in California. Virgin Galactic is still planning three more test flights with its employees. Richard Branson plans to be onboard one of the test flights.

The Federal Aviation Administration has given Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic the green light to begin flying customers to the edge of space, but first the company plans to put Branson and employees on the final test flights of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle.

A statement from Virgin Galactic Friday says the FAA has updated the company’s commercial space license to essentially allow for its space tourism business to begin.

An FAA spokesperson confirmed the report with a brief statement from the agency: “A new chapter in the story of human space flight is beginning,” the statement reads. “The FAA approved the first commercial space license to launch private individuals into space.”