Virgin Galactic's passengers ready to boldly go despite SpaceShipTwo crash

The wait for paying passengers to see earth from the vantage point of space looks a lot longer following the fatal crash of Virgin Galactic's first spaceship, but aspiring space tourists do not appear to be lining up for refunds.

About 800 people already have paid or put down deposits for rides on SpaceShipTwo, a six-passenger, two-pilot suborbital spaceship owned by Virgin Galactic, an offshoot of Richard Branson's Virgin Group, which aims to be the first commercial space ride for tourists. Tickets sell for US$250,000.

SpaceShipTwo broke up during a test flight in Mojave in the US state of California on Friday, killing one of two pilots. The Virgin accident came three days after an unmanned Antares rocket owned and launched by Orbital Sciences Corp exploded 15 seconds after lift-off in Virginia.

Hours after Friday's crash, Carmella Sears, an accredited Virgin Galactic "space agent" at Mansour Travel in Beverly Hills, California, had not heard any customers asking for refunds, and she did not expect to.

Although Hollywood stars including Tom Hanks and Angelina Jolie have signed up for trips, her two customers are more ordinary people into extreme sports and adventures. Space flight, she said, "is definitely on their bucket list. It is something they really, really want to do".

One waiting passenger, XPRIZE Foundation chairman and chief executive officer Peter Diamandis, said he would trust Virgin to keep him safe when his turn arose.

"This is what exploring is all about. We risk our lives for what we believe in. This is the American way - the explorer's way. I for one, am proud to be a Virgin Galactic client," he said.