Pie in the sky? Virgin Galactic's vision for the future.

When would be the best time to unveil the name of the most talked about space tourism venture in exploration history? You might consider yesterday's Discovery shuttle landing. Well you'd be wrong, writes Jagruti Dave.

The organisers decided that the £124m space hub should be officially renamed Spaceport America in time for the largest gathering of international aviation enthusiasts at Britain's Farnborough Air Show.

Formerly known as the "Southwest Regional Spaceport", Spaceport America is surely the next destination for the traveller who has done it all: climbed the Himalayas and rowed the Atlantic. Brought to you by the man who has made planes and trains but no automobiles as yet, Richard Branson's latest enterprise Virgin Galactic claims it will make space travel accessible to all.

An egalitarian space travel program? Well, not yet. According to Virgin Galactic, the price of satisfying the "curiosity of the human spirit" is £110,000. Or rather, that buys you a ticket for a 2.5-hour flight with 15 minutes of weightlessness.

Space tourists will take off from the spaceport in New Mexico, which hopes to become "the premier spaceport destination in North America". Although the non-millionaires among us are more likely to remember it as the location for some of Hollywood's finest explosion scenes. Anyone remember Speed?

So could this be the giant leap that mankind has been waiting for? Or might it be yet another new fad for the rich and bored? Cynics may scoff, but around 45,000 people have expressed an interest and 156 have forked out a 10% deposit for a vacation in the vacuum. We will just have to wait until 2010 to see whether it takes off.