Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company founded by Richard Branson, is set to launch its second commercial flight on Thursday, carrying an 80-year-old former British Olympian and a mother-daughter duo from the Caribbean. The VSS Unity rocketplane will take off from Spaceport America in New Mexico, marking the company's seventh trip to space since 2018 and the first with paying customers on board. The passengers include Jon Goodwin, an 80-year-old athlete who competed in canoeing in the 1972 Olympics and has Parkinson's disease, Keisha Schahaff, a health coach from Antigua, and her 18-year-old daughter Anastatia Mayers, a student at Scotland's University of Aberdeen.

Goodwin, who bought his ticket in 2005, said he hopes his journey will inspire others facing adversity. Schahaff and Mayers won their tickets through a fundraising lottery for the nonprofit Space for Humanity, and they will become the first Caribbean natives to venture into space. The flight will also make Mayers the second-youngest person to reach space, following Oliver Daemen's flight with Blue Origin in July 2021. The passengers will be joined by Virgin Galactic commander C.J. Stuckow, pilot Kelly Latimer, and chief astronaut trainer Beth Moses.

The VSS Unity rocketplane launches from the belly of an airplane and requires two pilots in the cockpit. Once the mothership reaches about 50,000 feet, the space plane is released and fires its rocket motor to make the final push to just over 50 miles up. Passengers will have the opportunity to unstrap from their seats and experience a few minutes of weightlessness while taking in the views of Earth before the space plane glides back home and lands on a runway.

Virgin Galactic's previous commercial flight carried three Italian military and government researchers, marking the company's entry into the space tourism business. About 800 people are currently on the waiting list for future flights. The company plans to offer monthly trips to customers, joining Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Elon Musk's SpaceX in the growing space tourism industry. Ticket prices have increased from $200,000 to $450,000.

Virgin Galactic's progress in the space tourism market comes after a fatal test flight in 2014. Since then, the company has implemented numerous safety measures to prevent accidents. Branson, who became the first billionaire to travel to space on his own company's rocket in 2021, beat Bezos by nine days. Blue Origin has since launched several passenger trips, while SpaceX, owned by Elon Musk, has sent astronauts to the International Space Station. Virgin Galactic aims to reach 400 flights per year from Spaceport America once it completes its next class of rocket-powered planes at a facility in Arizona.