Virgin Galactic working with scientists

Virgin Galactic, a company leading the space tourism charge, has discovered a demand for their services from passengers other than their target audience of tourists. Scientists from Southwest Research Institute have signed a deal with Virgin Galactic that will allow them to conduct experiments in suborbital space.

This deal allows scientists from Southwest Research to use Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo as a laboratory in space, where they plan to conduct experiments in weightlessness, biology, astronomy and climate research.

Space.com quotes Virgin Galactic’s CEO, George Whitesides, as saying, “Science flights will be an important growth area for the company in the years to come, building on the strong commercial success already demonstrated by deposits received from over 400 individuals for Virgin’s space experience.”