Yahoo Autos The Range Rover Astronaut Edition Is Only for Virgin Galactic's Commercial Astronauts
The Range Rover Astronaut Edition is only available to people who are signed up to go to space on a Virgin Galactic commercial flight.
Each one consists of special design touches and can incorporate a piece of the ship that took the owner to space.
About 700 people have put down $250,000 for a ticket to go to space, with all flights currently sold out for the time being.
Are you signed up to fly to space on Virgin Galactic when the first commercial flights begin later this year? Are you in need of a new car for when you're not in space? Do you like British SUVs? Are you very rich? (Okay, if you're signed up for Virgin Galactic you definitely are very rich, we didn't need to ask that.) Well have we got the car for you. It's called the Range Rover Astronaut Edition, and it's only available to the "Future Astronauts" that have signed up and paid to go to space.
The Zero Gravity Blue paint was created just for the Astronaut Edition, and the brand says it was "inspired by the depth and intensity of the night sky." There's special badging on the sides of the car and the tailgate, and there's additional hidden badges in the door jambs that's only visible when the doors are open. The puddle lamps project an image of SpaceShipTwo, the craft that will be taking customers to space.
Two discs within the cupholders are made from the front landing skid of the spaceship that completed the first successful space flight in December 2018. But if you're hoping for something a little more special than that, don't worry. Customers will be able to have the piece replaced with one made from the skid of the ship from their own commercial flight-complete with a personal inscription featuring details of the "life-changing experience."
In addition to that skid creation and the white leather interior with blue stitching, the Astronaut Edition gets a number of other unique touches. The center console also has a "DNA of Flight" graphic on the carbon-fiber trim that depicts iconic modes of flight, from Icarus' wings to the Wright Brothers' plane and the Apollo Lunar Module. The same graphic is embossed on the rear armrest, while the headrests have SpaceShipTwo's outline stitched into them. Engraved into the aluminum door handles is a "Future Astronaut community constellation pattern" that Range Rover says is a representation of "a global community connected by a love of space." There's no photo of the handles, so we can only imagine how ridiculous they look. Range Rover says there are other personalization options, such as the customer's initials being stitched onto the headrests.
The starting off point for the Astronaut Edition is a short-wheelbase Range Rover in the luxurious Autobiography trim level. Two powertrains are available: The P525 model, which uses a 518-hp supercharged 4.0-liter V-8, or the P400e model, which is a plug-in-hybrid that uses a turbocharged 2.0-liter inline-four and an electric motor for a total of 398 horsepower. Range Rover gives no pricetag for the Astronaut Edition, but it's surely astronomical.
Land Rover has been collaborating with Virgin Galactic since 2014 when it offered a space-flight ticket in a contest; the brand then helped unveil the SpaceShipTwo in 2016 by towing it with a Range Rover (which you can see in the photo gallery). Range Rovers will also be the vehicles of choice for the transport of people to training, to and from overnight accommodations, and to the spaceport on launch day.
At this point, all of Virgin Galactic's existing tickets are sold out at $250,000 apiece, and about 700 people have put down their deposits. The SpaceShipTwo seats two pilots and six passengers, and each journey will last around two and a half hours. The ship will only be in space for a few minutes, at which point passengers will be able to get out of their seats and experience weightlessness. Now that the first successful test flight has occurred and Virgin has been continually testing the crafts and conducting more space flights, the first commercial flights should begin later this year.
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