Sir Richard Branson and New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez Dedicate the ‘Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space'
Local Travel Advisor and Virtuoso Member®, KAREN KILYK of COVINGTON TRAVEL, Among Prestigious Group of Virgin Galactic Spaceport Accredited Space Agents.
Richmond, VA (October 21, 2011) Recently more than 800 guests marveled at Virgin Galactic’s commercial space vehicles as they soared through the skies of southern New Mexico during the dedication ceremonies of Virgin Galactic’s new home at Spaceport America.
The flight of WhiteKnightTwo and SpaceShipTwo was the highlight of a spectacular ceremony that featured 
the dedication of the Sir Norman Foster-designed building and announcements of new scientific and educational customers for the world's first commercial space line. The dedication marks another major milestone in the quest to bring commercial space flights to paying tourists. A member of renowned luxury travel network, Virtuoso®, Karen Kilyk of Chesapeake, VA is among a handful of Accredited Space Agents trained and authorized to sell seats aboard the suborbital flights.
For a firsthand account of the Virgin Galactic program, contact Karen Kilyk at 804-747-4152 or karenk@covtrav.com.
As a Virtuoso Accredited Space Agent (ASA), Kilyk is among an elite group of Virtuoso travel advisors who were hand-selected by Virgin Galactic to sell seats aboard their suborbital space flights. Virtuoso is the exclusive sales channel for Virgin Galactic throughout the Americas, with 79 ASAs, and an additional 5 ASAs in Australia. 
"This is another history-making day for Virgin Galactic," said Sir Richard Branson. "We are here with a group of incredible people who are helping us lead the way in creating one of the most important new industrial sectors of the 21st century. We’ve never wavered in our commitment to the monumental task of pioneering safe, affordable and clean access to space, or to demonstrate that we mean business at each step along the way.” Present for the dedication ceremony were over 150 Virgin Galactic customers from 21 countries who have already made deposits to fly to space. A total of over 450 future astronauts worldwide have signed on to join Virgin Galactic for a voyage into space.
“I have been connected to Virgin Galactic since 2009 when I was selected to train and become an ASA,” says Kilyk. “Since that time, I’ve seen the program make great strides and every milestone gets us one step closer to the reality of suborbital space flight for the average person. Virgin Galactic ‘astronauts’
span the spectrum, from pilots to people who watched the first man walk on the moon, but they allshare an incredible passion for space travel. As a professional travel advisor, it’s very gratifying to help people realize their dreams, whether it’s traveling 68 miles into suborbital space or to Africa.”
The Virgin Galactic Gateway to Space, a combined terminal and hangar facility, will support up to two WhiteKnightTwo and five SpaceShipTwo vehicles. In addition, The Gateway will house all of the company’s astronaut preparation and celebration facilities, a mission control center, and a friends and family area. There is also space committed to public access via the planned New Mexico Spaceport Authority’s Visitor Experience.
Virgin Galactic CEO and President George Whitesides said the company continues to make excellent and unequalled progress, under the motto ‘safety is our North Star.’ Whitesides remarked, “Flight testing by prime contractor Scaled Composites is progressing very well, with 30 SpaceShipTwo flights and 75 WhiteKnightTwo flights to date. We are also recruiting aggressively and assembling a highly talented and accomplished workforce focused on safe commercial operations led by Vice President of Operations Mike Moses, who will run our efforts at the spaceport.”