History will be in the making for space tourism this month as Virgin Galactic will launch its maiden commercial spaceflight this month.

The space voyage will shape the history of space travel and Virgin Galactic, the brainchild of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group, will blast off on 27 June until 30 June.

“Galactic 01, a scientific research mission, will carry three crew members from the Italian Air Force and the National Research Council of Italy to conduct microgravity research,” confirmed a press release from Virgin Galactic.

“With scientific payloads on board, the spaceflight will showcase the value and power of the unique suborbital science lab that Virgin Galactic offers.”

Virgin Galactic’s trip will take the shape of a carrier plane called VMS Eve and VSS Unity, a six-passenger, two-pilot space plane from the SpaceShipTwo model.

VMS Eve will take off on the runway carrying VSS Unity before dropping the space plane for it to blast its onboard rocket on its voyage to space. The lucky passengers will experience the feeling of weightlessness for some minutes before travelling back to Earth.

Unity has been vigorously tested in preparation for the history making flight – flying five test missions along the way.

Should all go to plan, a second operational flight, Galactic 02, is scheduled for blast off in August before commencing commercial flights on a monthly basis, according to Virgin Galactic.

The cost of a flight onboard is £351,000 with the space flight’s location being Spaceport America in New Mexico, the headquarters of Virgin Galactic.

Image: Virgin Galactica