Al Ain could be the launch pad for space tourism flights

The UAE could provide the launch pad to finally get space tourism plans off the ground, the director of the country’s space agency said.

Mohammed Al Ahbabi, who heads the UAE Space Agency, said the organisation is working with Virgin Galactic to operate tourist space flights from Al Ain airport in future. The announcement came three months after a Virgin Galactic rocket blasted off into space, advancing efforts to eventually launch a service for paying passengers.

Pilots Mark Stucky and CJ Sturckow fired the rocket engine in their Unity spacecraft for 60 seconds, taking them to an altitude of more than 80 kilometres – the first manned flight into space from US soil since the end of Nasa’s shuttle missions.

A second successful test flight was carried out in February.

“Virgin Galactic, which was founded by Sir Richard Branson and owned by Virgin group and Mubadala Investment Company, is the world’s first business space agency and has conducted successful trial flights recently,” Mr Al Ahbabi said. “The reason why the company opted for Al Ain airport is that it is less crowded than other UAE airports.”

Virgin Galactic operates a reusable spaceflight system. This consists of WhiteKnightTwo, a custom-built carrier aircraft, and SpaceShipTwo, the world’s first passenger-carrying spaceship to be built by a private company and operated in commercial service.

The Virgin Group has for many years been eager to use the UAE as a space tourism hub.

In 2009, the conglomerate announced plans to launch flights from Abu Dhabi and, a decade later, the ties between Mr Branson and the UAE remain strong.

In February, Mr Branson presented an Emirati flag that was taken into space on the successful trial run in December to Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

“The gift is a tribute to the role played by the United Arab Emirates and its vision and approach to the space sciences,” Mr Branson said.

Several sites have been earmarked as potential launch pads for space flights. Last year, Sutherland, in the Scottish Highlands, was chosen to be the UK’s first space travel hub.

In July, a deal was sealed with the Italian Space Agency for potential flights of Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo from the Taranto-Grottaglie airport in southern Italy. And in December Virgin Galactic agreed to carry out a SpaceShipTwo flight from Spaceport America in New Mexico this year.

The company is racing Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX to offer space flights to wealthy passengers.