Virtuoso to Sell Space as Destination

If you want to go into space with Richard Branson's Virgin companies, you're going to have to go through Virtuoso. Virgin Galactic, the commercial space travel arm of the Virgin empire, has named Virtuoso its exclusive sales partner for North America. According to a release from Virtuoso, "A select group of Virtuoso's elite members will go through a comprehensive training program with Virgin Galactic to become 'Accredited Space Agents,' making them among the first travel consultants in the world endorsed to reserve seats on Virgin Galactic Spaceflights, due to launch in 2008." It's a lucrative proposition for both Virtuoso and Virgin Galactic. The commissionable three-day packages will cost about $200,000. Guests will undergo a training and bonding period before entering the space ship for a two-hour flight that takes them to a maximum of 75 miles above the Earth's surface. Travelers experience weightlessness for about five minutes before the shuttle returns to Earth.