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I’ve been dreaming of going into space all my life.
But for years it seemed like something in the far future.
Suddenly it is near. Within a year we’ll be flying.
In two years we will be taking people into space commercially.
My name is Michiel Mol, partner at Space Expedition Curacao.
We will start commercial space travel as of 2014.
We will take passengers to an altitude of over 100 kilometres.
This is called the Kármán line, the official border with space.
As a child I had a few passions, such as cars...
computers, gaming, and space.
My company Lost Boys was active in computer games and the internet.
I had a Formula 1 team. Now I’m involved in a space expedition.
It’s a dream come true.
There are two active companies: *** Galactic from Richard Branson...
and SXC, our company.
There are differences. We transport one passenger who sits next to the pilot.
Branson has six people in the back.
We take off from a runway. They fly to an altitude of 13 kilometres
where they drop the spaceship. Then the rocket engine fires up.
Our ticket price is 95,000 dollars. Theirs is 200,000 dollars.
Both companies are pioneers in this field.
The engines, the most important part, are ready.
The engines make the difference, they are the game changers.
We have the world’s first rocket engines...
that can be started, stopped and started again.
This recycling is more eco-friendly than throwing the engine away after use.
This is the SP-1, a full-scale model of our spaceship.
The design is now finished. The hull and cockpit are ready.
We are only doing some minor tweaking to the wings.
Here is the Desdemona training facility.
This is where we train our future astronauts to deal with G-forces.
It has a simulation of the actual space flight.
It is better to gain some experience before going into space.
So you can really enjoy the view.
We take off horizontally from the runway.
Then you go straight up into the air like a rocket.
We accelerate to a speed of Mach 1, the speed of sound, within a minute.
And we reach Mach 3, around 3,600 km/h, within three minutes.
Then you’re at an altitude of 60 kilometres, almost in space, within 3 to 4 minutes.
Astronauts say that going into space is a life-changing experience.
To have seen earth from space with its thin atmosphere surrounding it.
It changes your perspective on life and the earth itself.
It makes you an ambassador of Mother Earth.
KLM started round trips above Amsterdam 90 years ago.
It marked the start of the whole airline industry.
The last century was the century of commercial air travel.
This century will be the century of commercial space travel.
The KLM partnership started around a year ago.
Pioneering and innovation is vital to the airline.
KLM is a very important partner.
It has already bought tickets for use with future special events.
And there is a lot of joint marketing and PR via KLM.
It is very exciting. Every morning I can’t wait to get to work.
This is something I love to do 24/7.