by Joe Wilhelm Jr.
Staff Writer
Plans available for $200k ticket
Normally, travel agents are concerned about space on flights for their clients.
Ponte Vedra-based travel agent Suzanne Perritt of Valerie Wilson Travel is focusing these days on finding flights into space for her clients.
Perritt is one of six accredited space agents in Florida, and the only agent in North Florida, able to reserve seats on commercial space flights that are tentatively scheduled to be conducted by Virgin Galactic in two years. The cost for a seat on a flight is $200,000 and the trip lasts about 2.5 hours as the space ship travels over 62 miles above the earth and into sub-orbital space.
“I sent in the application to become an accredited space agent and didn’t know what to expect,” said Perritt, who has been in the travel industry for about 25 years. “I received a phone call from Virgin Galactic and went through the interview process.”
After she was selected, Perritt completed training that she needed to help answer customers’ questions about space travel and preparations for the flight.
“We spent time training in Cape Canaveral,” said Perritt. “They brought in doctors to educate us on the physical aspects of the flight and psychiatrists to explain the psychological affects the trip might have on people.”
California ranks first in the number of space agents with 11, and Florida and Texas are next at six each. These three states are among 16 with agents.
“We were told the number of agents in a state depended on the number of hits to the Virgin Galactic Web site,” said Perritt. “The more hits they get from a certain state, the larger the number of agents that state is eligible for.”
Agents have also been accredited throughout the world in places including Australia, Canada, Central and South America and the Caribbean. It’s this worldwide exposure that could benefit Jacksonville said Michael Stewart, director of external affairs for the Jacksonville Aviation Authority, which is pursuing a spaceport permit for Cecil Field Airport.
“I think it is important whether we are pursuing a permit for Cecil Field or not. It brings international exposure to (Perritt’s) company and to Jacksonville,” said Stewart. “The designation is really a feather in the cap for Jacksonville to have someone accredited to serve those people who want to get in line to fly to the edge of space.”
The order of the first 100 people paying to experience a commercial space flight on Virgin Galactic will be determined by lottery, but the passenger list for the first flight has already been set. Sir Richard Branson, CEO of Virgin Galactic, will occupy one of the seats on that first flight along with his wife, parents and two adult children. This group will ride in Space Ship Two (SS2) which is attached to a mother ship, White Knight Two (WK2), which brings the smaller ship to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere. The smaller SS2 then detaches from the center of WK2 and fires its rocket to propel itself into sub-orbital outer space more than 62 miles above the Earth. The ship will spend about three minutes in outer space before gliding down to Earth.
Virgin Galactic plans to conduct one flight a week in its first year of commercial operation, which will earn astronaut status for over 300 customers. SS2 is equipped to carry six passengers and two pilots. Five SS2s and two WK2s have been ordered and the company plans to have the entire fleet within two years of the first delivery. If this order is met, the company plans to be conducting a flight each day by the end of its second year of operation.
The customers filling those flights are assigned different levels of priority depending on their payment structure. In order to be included in the first 100 flights, customers are required to pay the entire $200,000 up front to secure a seat at the “Founder” level. The “Pioneer” level earns ticket holders one of the first 1,000 seats sold by Virgin Galactic and they are required to pay $150,000 to hold their seat, paying the remaining $50,000 at later intervals. The “Voyager” level requires a $20,000 deposit and ticket holders can pay over time.
“The common thread has been that burning desire to go into space, not wealth,” said Perritt, who is married to Marks Gray attorney Frank Perritt. “I had heard of someone mortgaging a house to be able to make the trip, so it’s not just the wealthy who are interested in the experience.”
A training program for that experience is still being developed by Virgin Galactic, but preliminary research conducted by the company reveals that 90 percent of the population could participate in a flight, said Perritt.
“Sales have picked up since the roll out of SS2 on December 7 in Mojave,” added Perritt. “The Founders level is nearly sold out and the Pioneer level has seen increases.”
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