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Reality TV producer Mark Burnett made 'Survivor' and 'The Voice' but he's always been looking
to make a show more universal. Now he's teamed up with Richard Branson's *** Galactic
for a TV series on US channel NBC that will send someone to space. *** Galactic intends
to begin commercial spaceflight services aboard the suborbital SpaceShipTwo next year. The
six-passenger, two-pilot ship, which is currently undergoing testing in California, is designed
to fly about 63 miles above Earth and return. It will give passengers a few minutes of weightlessness
and a view of the planet set against the blackness of space. About 630 people have put down deposits
or purchased tickets for the ride, which now costs $250,000 per person. The series, called
Space Race, will pit contenders in an unscripted elimination competition. The winner will get
a ticket to ride on SpaceShipTwo. As part of the deal, *** Galactic will give the
production team "unprecedented access" to SpaceShipTwo's base at Spaceport American
in New Mexico.