The space tourism company Virgin Galactic, which is building a fleet of reusable private spaceships, has inked a landmark deal to fly scientists into sub-orbital space for research. Under the new agreement, Virgin Galactic has sold two tickets for seats aboard the company's SpaceShipTwo commercial spaceliners to the Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) in Boulder, Colo. Six more seats are on reserve for the institute. The deal has a total value of about $1.6 million and is the first agreement by Virgin Galactic specifically aimed at flying scientists into suborbital space. Until now, the company has been taking deposits primarily from thrill seekers and eager space tourists hoping for a chance to fly on the SpaceShipTwo space planes.
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