Sir Richard Branson said building a hotel off the moon is something he has ‘always dreamt of’ as he looks to the future after his maiden flight with Virgin Galactic.
The space tourism pioneer and billionaire astronaut said future customers can expect ‘a lot more spaceships,’ from Virgin, eventually reducing the cost of a trip.
Currently it is thought a ticket to the edge of space with Virgin Galactic, replicating Branson’s trip from Sunday, July 11, will cost about $250,000 (£180,000).
Sir Richard said Virgin Galactic’s flights may not be the end of his work in space, as the firm plans to build craft that can fly higher and for longer.
Speaking of other dreams he wanted to pursue, he said: ‘Whether one day we will build a hotel off the moon, which is something that I’ve always dreamt of, or whether we’ll leave that to my children to do, we’ll have to see.
‘But that’s something which is yet another dream that, if I’ve got time in my life to do, that would be something I’d love to do one day.’
Branson hopes that following the ‘landmark moment’ that saw him launch from Spaceport America in New Mexico, the space tourism industry will grow at pace.
Amazon and Blue Origin found, Jeff Bezos, will become the second ‘founder-billionaire’ to go to space on his own firms vehicle on Tuesday, July 20.
The firm will then look to also offering short hops to the edge of space, similar to Virgin Galactic, for an estimated $200,000 (£140,000) per seat.
Branson hopes that with more spaceplanes and rockets available, it will in time help bring down the cost of a trip to space.
This ‘ramping up’ was backed up by Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier, who said one day Virgin Galactic could be operating 400 flights per year from dozens of spaceports worldwide.
VSS Unity is a prototype, which will be replaced with VSS Imagine, a SpaceShip3 class of vehicle that will be easier to maintain and build.
They will also allow for quicker turnarounds between flights, and so allowing for more regular trips to space.
Future versions will be engineered with ease of manufacture in mind, he told MailOnline in an earlier interview.
The firm is selling new shares in the hope of raising $500 million (£360 million) to fund future development of the fleet, including finding other spaceports around the world.
It isn’t clear where those spaceports will be, but sister firm Virgin Orbit, has an agreement with Spaceport Cornwall.
VMS Eve: The launch platform for the SpaceShipTwo and Spaceship III based Virgin Galactic vehicles.
VMS stands for Virgin MotherShip and is named after Evette Branson, mother of founder Sir Richard Branson.
So far only one has been built and it made its first flight in December 2008.
VSS Unity: Based on the SpaceShip Two class of vehicle, it is a rocket powered glider.
A replacement for the destroyed VSS Enterprise, Unity first flew to space in December 2018.
It has reached an altitude of 50 miles, earning its pilots commercial astronaut wings for the first time in 2018.
VSS Imagine: The first Spaceship III class of spaceplane, due to begin glide tests summer 2021.
VSS Inspire: The second Spaceship III class of spaceplane currently under construction in California by the Spaceship Company.
With more than 600 people paying for the chance to go to space, and some waiting over 15 years for the opportunity, they’ll need to ramp up quickly to meet demand.
There are another 1,000 people waiting int he wings who have each paid a $1,000 (£721) deposit for a chance to travel, and are putting two seats up for grabs in a competition run by Omaze.
Sir Richard said the trip and the experience was ‘more extreme than I’d have ever imagined’ before hailing his first flight as ‘glorious’.
Asked if he had come to terms with his first space flight, he said: ‘I’m nearly back down to earth, but not quite.
‘It was a lifetime dream. Dreams don’t often turn into reality, and it was just wonderful – everything I could have possibly dreamt of happened.’
Take-off had been delayed by about 90 minutes on Sunday due to the weather overnight at Spaceport America in New Mexico.
But video streamed live online showed Virgin Galactic in the air at about 15.45 BST, and the spaceship had reached 40,000ft by 16:00 BST.
VSS Unity and its crew, was carried up into the atmosphere by its mothership, VMS Eve, before being released so it could power up to highs of 250,000ft.
Describing the experience, Sir Richard said: ‘It’s as if time seems to slow down and everything is more extreme than one would expect.
‘It’s one extreme to the other – the spaceship releases and you’re sitting back as the rocket fires and you’re going from nought to three mach in seven or eight seconds.
‘That’s extreme, that’s more extreme than I’d have ever imagined – but glorious.
‘Then there’s the sudden silence when you’re drifting into space and you’re still travelling at three mach with no noise from the rocket, drifting up and up and up.
‘One of the most ridiculous moments is, having said a few words, just unbuckling and just drifting off one’s feet, then floating on top of the roof and looking down at our beautiful Earth, and seeing other people floating past you and realising ‘I’m an astronaut’.’
He was given his astronaut wings, something every Virgin Galactic passenger will receive, by veteran astronaut Chris Hadfield.
Asked when future customers could expect to have their chance to go to space, Sir Richard said work will begin on creating more spaceships.
‘Off the back of the successful flight yesterday, we will be getting out and building a lot more spaceships and in time that will help bring the cost down, but it’s not going to be immediate,’ he said.
‘Our next spaceship will go even higher than our current spaceship, and we’ll be building spaceships with even greater capabilities as time goes by.’
Addressing whether he would go into space again, Sir Richard added: ‘I think I’ve been spoiled as much as I should be spoiled in my lifetime.
‘We have hundreds of people who have signed up to go to space and they will now be itching to get into the seat.
‘Maybe one day, when we have 20 spaceships, they might find room for me again – maybe my 90th birthday or something, maybe they’ll let me up for that. But we’ll see how we go.’
He did say, in response to the news SpaceX founder Elon Musk had purchased a ticket with Virgin Galactic, that he may buy a ticket with SpaceX one day.
