Virgin Galactic sweepstakes lets you win tickets to space | Engadget Leave a comment

Now that Virgin Galactic has flown its founder to the edge of space, it’s ready to give everyday people a chance at a similar trip. Virgin and Omaze have announced a sweepstakes that lets you win two seats aboard “one of the first” commercial spaceflights. While you can enter for free, donating to Space for Humanity (a charity making spaceflight more accessible) will give you more entries.

The sweepstakes ends September 1st, and the companies will reveal the winner on September 29th. Just be ready to take some time off from work if you do win. You’ll have to go through the same training as any other Virgin Galactic passenger. You do get a tour of Spaceport America for your trouble, though.

Yes, this is a not-so-subtle way to capitalize on Virgin’s spaceflight and drum up hype for the company’s space tourism efforts. All the same, it’s a significant moment for private spaceflight. The notion of winning tickets to space wasn’t imaginable in the days when NASA and other government agencies were the only organizations traveling to space — now, it’s entirely logical.