Sir Richard Branson has made a career of pushing boundaries while always striving for luxury. That couldn’t be more evident than with his Virgin Galactic project that promises to kick off the age of space tourism. After releasing images of the commercial spaceport associated with the project last year, the aeronautical company is now showing off the interior of its Spaceship Two vehicle, VSS Unity.
A YouTube video reveals a set up that’s about the size of a private midsize jet. True to the Virgin brand, the design has a minimalist aesthetic with just six Star Trek looking seats for space tourists. There are 12 curved windows to allow plenty of views of space and Earth, which can be enjoyed seated or while floating in zero gravity. And special attention was paid to the seats, which allow for a comfortable ride beyond the atmosphere and room to float once in space.
“They’re unlike any seats that have ever been designed before,” said Virgin Galactic’s chief designer Jeremy Brown. “They are designed so that the astronauts will be comfortable in both zero gravity and in 1G on the ground. The body will be subject to much higher G forces as Unity travels into space, so the seats are designed to hug in all the right places for a snug fit.”
As far as the color scheme goes, Seymourpowell, London used golden metallics to “resemble luminous desert sands” as well as blue hues to represent space and teal for the ocean. The spacesuits designed by Under Armour also integrate these colors.
“We built this spaceship from the inside out,” Branson said via a virtual press conference. “We started with what we believed would be optimal customer experience and then built the spaceship around it. This cabin will allow thousands of people to realize their dreams of traveling in space.”
Pricing for the extraordinary experience is still unknown, but estimates are said to be over $250,000 per person.
