Virgin Galactic and Land Rover Extend Partnership

Land Rover and Virgin Galactic are extending their oh-so-British partnership until at least 2024, per an announcement that coincided with Virgin’s launch of the next-generation Spaceship III spacecraft.

In fact, a Range Rover Astronaut Edition rolled the first Spaceship III, VSS Imagine, out of the hangar for the launch event. The Astronaut Edition is a special, Special Vehicles-prepared Range Rover available for sale solely to those who are registered to eventually go to space with Virgin Galactic. This particular one belongs to Dee Chester, and along with her truck being the tow vehicle she got to be very involved in the launch of Imagine.

The Virgin Galactic-Land Rover partnership began in 2014, in an event during the New York International Auto Show aboard the USS Intrepid. Surrounded by groundbreaking military aircraft, the space shuttle Enterprise, and a British Airways Concorde (tail number G-BOAD, the fastest commercial plane to ever cross the Atlantic in 1996), it was also the debut of the Discovery Vision concept, which set the design path for the Discovery 5.

A decade on, the union of these two powerhouse brands – Land Rover and Virgin Enterprises – is stronger than ever. Land Rover vehicles are used on Virgin Galactic’s two ground stations, in the Mojave desert in California and at Spaceport America in New Mexico. VSS Imagine will commence ground testing and glide flights this summer in New Mexico, and Land Rovers will be used to tow them out. They also find a use on the grounds to carry equipment and clear runways before takeoff.

Virgin Galactic hopes to begin a commercial space travel service soon, after many years of testing. While the pricing is not available yet, it will be above the $250,000 offered to early registrants…and of course, you can’t do that without buying your well-earned Range Rover Astronaut Edition, can you?