When will the flights begin?
Firstly, it is very important we will not commence commercial spaceflight operations until we are entirely satisfied that it is safe to do so. Any times and dates that we give are subject to change for this reason.
The design and build of SpaceShipTwo (SS2) and WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) is on schedule at Scaled Composites in California. If things continue to go as smoothly as they have been, we anticipate that the first SS2 and WK2 will be rolled out in autumn 2007. We have then allowed 12 to 18 months of test flights to follow this, meaning that our inaugural flight should launch sometime toward the end of 2008 or in the first half of 2009. Test flights could take less or more time, so any potential clients must be made aware of the fact that dates are in no way guaranteed.

How many flights will operate and how many passengers on each?
Each SS2 carries 6 passengers and 2 pilots. During at least our first year of flight operation we will operate just one flight per week, so will carry 6 passengers per week. This will allow our engineers and maintenance teams plenty of time to perfect spaceship maintenance and turnaround procedures. This means that we should be able to fly all of our Founders and Pioneers within this first year of operation. Voyagers will being flying in the second year.
A total of five SS2’s and 2 WK2’s have been ordered and we hope to have the entire fleet delivered within 2 years of the first delivery. With this in mind we hope to be operating at least once per day by the end of our second year of operation.

Is insurance available?
At this stage of the project the general feeling of insurance companies is that they will in future be interested in offering commercial space travel insurance policies to Virgin Galactic clients however, understandably, they want to see our flights operate safely first so we cannot currently offer insurance to any passenger from any country but we do expect this to change at a later date, although not necessarily before our first commercial flights begin. The FAA (US Federal Aviation Authority) is comfortable with licensing us to operate commercial space flights and essentially view it as any other adventure activity. Therefore, passengers will fly at their own risk and will be asked to sign a liability waiver to that effect before flight.

What are the health requirements?
One of the key factors we have taken into consideration is ensuring that anyone of general good health can fly with us. Therefore there are few medical conditions which will categorically prohibit any individual from spaceflight however spaceflight has, up to now, been an adventure reserved solely for astronauts, who are arguably among the fittest and healthiest individuals on our planet. With passenger safety in mind we will be asking spaceflight passengers to undergo a medical exam which will be tailored to the individual, based on their medical history. This will then provide us with an accurate assessment of their fitness to fly and enable us to tailor pre-flight preparation to make sure they get the best experience possible from their spaceflight. There is currently no upper age limit and we are dealing with requests from individuals under the age of 18 on a case-by-case basis. Should a passenger be unable to fly due to health reasons, their deposit will be refunded in full.

What about visa and immigration requirements?
For at least the first few years of operation, our flights will operate from Mojave in California, and then from Spaceport America in New Mexico. Therefore normal US immigration policies will apply and we cannot currently foresee any additional requirements for space travel.

What other documentation is required?
At this stage, apart from signing the Terms & Conditions, no other specific documentation is required by us in order to accept a reservation. In the lead up to flight the only documentation required by us will be the Medical Form, the waiver and acceptance of our Conditions of Carriage. Both of the latter documents are yet to be finalized. Once these documents are available we will ensure the deposit is fully refundable should an individual be unhappy with the waiver or Conditions of Carriage.

Useful Websites
www.virgin.com/galactic Virgin Galactic
www.scaled.com Scaled Composites
www.spaceportamerica.com Spaceport America (New Mexico)
www.mojaveairport.com Mojave Spaceport (California)
http://ast.faa.gov/ AST (FAA Space Transport division)
www.nasa.gov NASA
www.virgin.com Virgin Group
Wikipedia is a great resource for general space information, just go to www.wikipedia.com and search for whatever you are looking for.