Dubai space hopeful with $200,000 out-of-this-world ticket
Spacecraft are like buses. You wait ages for one, and then three come along at once.
As the space tourism race gathers pace, billionaire British businessman Richard Branson flew yesterday in his company Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed flight, aboard VSS Unity.
The Rocket-powered space plane took off from Spaceport America, New Mexico, US, slung under carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo. It was later released to climb to the cusp of space.
A Dubai resident was at Spaceport America watching the take-off with great interest.
Almost 17 years ago, Namira Salim paid $200,000 to travel on one of Virgin Galactic’s first space tourist flights – and now, her wait could finally be over.
After yesterday’s sub-orbital test flight, Mr Branson could be inviting paying passengers on board later this year.
And for Ms Salim, who lives in Emirates Hills, that cannot come soon enough.
“It is very exciting,” she told The National from New Mexico.
“It has been my childhood dream to go to space and I have always been fascinated by the stars. It is a moment I have been waiting for.”
In the space race, Mr Branson has edged ahead of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is launching his Blue Origin spacecraft on July 20. Meanwhile, tech entrepreneur Elon Musk is developing Starship, for trips to Mars.
When Pakistan-born artist Ms Salim, 50, first read about the launch of Virgin Galactic in 2004, she rang immediately to express her interest.
“They had not even set up offices,” she said. “I signed up in January 2006 and Richard Branson came to Dubai a couple of months later.”
Growing up in Karachi and Dubai, her lifelong fascination with space blossomed during her school years and was fed by amateur astronomy groups.
Her father Salim Nasir, a former Pakistani army colonel who founded a construction equipment company in Dubai in the 1980s, encouraged her to focus on business instead.
But even during her business administration degree at Hofstra University, New York, Ms Salim would sneak off to stargaze. After graduating in 1992, she completed a master’s degree at Columbia University, New York.
Her passion never left her, however, and when the chance arose to become one of the world’s first commercial space travellers, Ms Salim seized it.
Her parents were resistant to the idea, but came round after meeting the Virgin boss.
“They were taken aback and very upset that I had signed up,” Ms Salim said.
Adrenalin junkie Ms Salim gave her parents further cause for concern when she embarked on adventures to prepare for her trip. These included scuba diving in the Bahamas, training as a pilot, travelling to the North and South poles and skydiving from almost nine kilometres up.
Much has changed in the 17 years since Ms Salim first dreamt of boarding a commercial space flight. Her mother, Nahid, died in 2017, followed by her father in 2019. Ms Salim grieves the fact they will never get to see her take off.
In the wait for her chance to go to space, Ms Salim launched Space Trust, a non-governmental organisation that aims to “promote the idea of space as a tool to make peace on Earth”.
“There are so many people advocating for the demilitarisation of space. I would rather inspire people from a positive angle,” she said.
It is very exciting. It has been my childhood dream to go to space. I have always been fascinated by the stars.
NAMIRA SALIM
Virgin Galactic customer