(Reuters) - Billionaire Richard Branson will fly into space on a Virgin Galactic rocketship early next year, the space tourism company he founded said on Monday, adding that it would raise new funds with a share offering.
Branson's trip to space hinges on the success of two upcoming test flight programs, Virgin Galactic Holdings (NYSE:SPCE) Inc said, with the first powered spaceflight scheduled for this fall from Spaceport America.
The company competes with billionaire-backed ventures such as Blue Origin that are vying to usher in a new era of space tourism, racing to be the first to offer sub-orbital flights to civilian space travelers.
Virgin Galactic offers zero-gravity experiences to customers with its centerpiece SpaceShipTwo plane and has long-term point-to-point travel plans to quickly transport passengers from city to city at near-space altitudes.
Earlier in June, Virgin Galactic had signed an agreement with NASA to develop a program to promote private missions to the International Space Station.