Virgin Galactic Unveils Design Of Spaceship’s Cabin [Photos]

Virgin Galactic unveiled the cabin design for their new plane that promises to bring tourists to space in the near future.

“This cabin has been designed specifically to allow thousands of people like you and me to achieve the dream of spaceflight safely – and that is incredibly exciting,” said Virgin Galactic’s founder Richard Branson in the reveal video.

Although the company originally planned for the cabin reveal to happen in real life, due to the pandemic they pivoted to a virtual reveal that allowed journalists, fans and potential investors to see the inside of the new spacecraft from home.

“In many ways, the cabin is the design centerpiece of this transformational journey,” said CEO Michael Colglazier. “It’s this cabin which will enable hundreds, and then thousands of people to embark on one of the most unforgettable journeys of their lives: that of space flight.”

Before the tour of the design of the space craft begins, Chief Astronaut Instructor Beth Moses is shown floating in the ship as it sits in space. “That’s probably the stand out moment of my life: floating,” Moses said.

The video shows that every seat in the ship is a window seat, allowing passengers to take in the views of sub-orbital space and look down at Earth. Each gray and blue chair has a screen in its back with information about the flight.

“The display gives us the opportunity  to share live flight data with you, so speed, g, boost time that’s remaining in your flight,” said Design Director Jeremy Brown. “All help to provide more memorable magic touches to your experience.”

The chairs themselves were designed by Under Armor, and come in four interchangeable sizes to best mold to the passengers, which is important as high g-forces bear down on passengers while leaving and entering the atmosphere. When the ship reaches space, the seats are designed to unbuckle and retract the seat belts and tilt to a flat position that allows the passengers to have maximum room to move around the cabin in the zero-g weightlessness of space.

The 17 windows are surrounded by halos that double as handles to allow passengers to grab on and position themselves to look out at space.

“We’ve designed the halo edges to allow you to move around the cabin and perfectly position yourself to view Earth below,” said Brown. “In zero-g, the cabin effectively becomes a 360 degree climbing frame.”

The cabin also features a floor to ceiling mirror so that you can see yourself in zero-g. “While 16 onboard cameras will be capturing your every move for later viewing, we felt that you should be able to see yourself enjoy the freedom of weightlessness in real time, illuminated by the natural beautiful brightness of the Earth,” Brown explained.

If you’re interested in becoming an astronaut, a ticket on Virgin Galactic will run you $250,000, and you can reserve a seat with a $1,000 refundable deposit.