Richard Branson to go into space on Virgin Galactic's first commercial flight this year

Three test flights planned in the coming months followed by the first full space flight, claims Branson

Virgin Galactic's founder Sir Richard Branson says he hopes to fly into space on Virgin Galactic's first commercial flight in the middle of this year.

In an interview on CBS This Morning in the US, Branson claimed that the inaugural flight of Virgin's SpaceShipTwo vehicle will be conducted after completion of a series of test flights starting in coming weeks.

"I will hope to go up in the middle of this year myself," Branson said.

The billionaire, 68, revealed that he is training hard to have "the body of a 30 year old" for his first space flight. He said he already feels like he is in his 30s, thanks to a gruelling fitness routine.

"You do these tests, seeing how long you can plank for, and so on. The nice thing is I've got down to the body of a 30 year old. I'm trying to get down to the body of a 20 year old," he added.

Branson appeared on the CBS show with Kevin Plank, chief executive of athletic apparel firm Under Armour, where he revealed a deal with the Baltimore-based clothing company to design and make space apparel and footwear for Virgin's astronauts and employees.

The firm will also develop an astronaut training programme that will include nutrition and fitness advice to help space tourists prepare for their space trip.

Virgin Galactic is also planning to move to a 'spaceport' in New Mexico, where the company's commercial space flights will be operated.

"We've got another test flight in a handful of weeks taking place from Mojave, then we'll have another one a few weeks later, then another one. And then, we move everything to New Mexico where we have a beautiful spaceport."

Virgin is currently in a race with other private space firms, including SpaceX's and Blue Origin, to be the first to carry private tourists to space. The company is offering a 90-minute space flight to space tourists for £190,000, and claims that more than 600 people have already booked a seat for a trip on company's space plane.

Last month, Virgin Galactic inched closer to its space ambitions when its crewed vehicle successfully reached 82.7 kilometres above the Earth's surface. The flight took off from Mojave Air & Space Port in California, carrying two astronauts into the upper boundaries of Earth's atmosphere.

To do this, the plane had to push its rocket motor to the longest burn duration, which enabled it to go higher than it had gone before. The aircraft also carried NASA payloads for the first time, in effort to make it as close as possible to commercial weight.

The plane spent several minutes at its intended altitude before safely touching back down to Earth.

Critics claim that Virgin Galactic isn't, strictly speaking going into space, but the Earth's upper atmosphere - although passengers will no doubt get a good view.

NASA views the 82.7km altitude reached by the Virgin Galactic craft in December as "the border between Earth's atmosphere and space". The most widely accepted definition of space is the Kármán line, which is considered to be 100km from the Earth's surface.