Virgin Galactic To Take First Pakistani Into Space on ‘Galactic 04’ Mission

Virgin Galactic is gearing up for its next mission following the success of the "Galactic 03" mission earlier this month. The next flight will include the first Pakistani to reach the outer space.

Who Is Namira Salim?

Pakistani adventurer Namira Salim will soon make space travel history next month. She is among the passengers on the upcoming Virgin Galactic trip. The upcoming mission dubbed "Galactic 04" is set to launch from New Mexico's Spaceport America on Oct. 5. The mission will make Salim the first Pakistani to reach space.

Salim was thrilled with the upcoming trip and even announced it on social media.

"Thrilled to take to the #stars with @trevorbmbagency

and @ronrosano aboard #Galactic04 with @virgingalactic. Inspiring #girls #women and #youth globally to reach for the stars," she wrote on X (formerly known as Twitter).

Salim is the founder and chairman of the organization Space Trust. On her website, she is the first Pakistani to go to both the North and South Poles (in April 2007 and January 2008, respectively) and the first private woman astronaut from Dubai and Monaco.

Salim is also a Founder Astronaut of Richard Branson's space agency, Virgin Galactic. She is internationally renowned as the future First space Tourist of South Asian origin.

She purchased a Virgin Galactic ticket in 2006, making her one of the first 100 customers. The cost was $200,000 back then, but now $450,000.

Galactic 04 Mission

Galactic 04 will transport three passengers to and from suborbital space. The other two Salim mentioned in her post were American astronomy teacher Ron Rosano and British advertising executive Trevor Beattie.

The chief astronaut instructor, Beth Moses, will travel aboard the VSS Unity spacecraft with the space tourists. Kelly Latimer and C.J. Sturckow will pilot the VSS Unity spacecraft. Nicola Pecile and Jameel Janjua will be in charge of the VMS Eve; this carrier aircraft lifts Unity off the ground. Eve releases Unity at a height of roughly 45,000 feet, or 13,700 meters. The spacecraft then ignites its rocket motor to enter suborbital space.

Galactic 04, as its name implies, will be Virgin's fourth commercial mission. The three prior ones flew in June, August, and September.

Galactic 03 flew on Sept. 8 with three paying customers onboard. However, the flight wasn't livestreamed. In August, Virgin Galactic made its first space tourism flight with three onboard passengers, which was a success.

Aboard the spacecraft were 80-year-old former Olympian from the United Kingdom, Jon Goodwin, and mother and daughter Keisha Schahaff and Anastasia Mayers. Schahaff won two tickets for the voyage.

Virgin Galactic's founder, Richard Branson, watched the historical space flight in Antigua and Barbuda with Schahaff and Mayer's family. The British business magnate was emotional during the flight. He was seen smiling and wiping his tears at one point.

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