Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan owns the Manchester City Football Club, and boy he must be swimming in loads of money. He has met with the flamboyant Richard Branson and has agreed to invest USD280 million in a project to the space called Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is a kind of service offered by Richard Branson to kick start the space tourism.

The Sheikh would invest in the insurance of the deal and he shall make use of his Aabar Investments. With this in mind, Aabar would be granted the rights to host Virgin Galactic tourism. Moreover, Abu Dhabi would turn from being a desert tow into a space hub with rockets and space technology creeping into the dusty sand dunes.

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So much for the talk about the economic downturn, enthusiasts of space tourism seem to be rather unaffected by the ruling atmosphere across the globe. In fact, they are wiling to go a step further. Yes, get married in zero gravity. If the buzz is to be believed then a NY coupe, Noah Fulmor and Erin Finnegan will exchange their vows floating mid-air in the presence of their near and dear ones.

The ceremony will be officiated by Richard Garriott, who is the sixth private explorer to go to space. Others promoting space tourism are Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic with a grand plan to conduct marriages 70 miles above the earth while a Japanese company Rocketplane Global Inc offers the same at 60 miles for $2.3 million. However, Fulmor and Finnegan might not have to shell out so much money. The official word at zerogravitywedding tells that plane rental shall cost between $32,400 and $64,800. But the cost can be brought down to $5,400 per person in case they are willing to share space with another couple getting married at the same time.

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Swiss air recently announced their ultra First Class suites screaming of hi-fi luxury. As though in competition, British billionaire Richard Branson announces his luxury airline which is just as filthy rich. Claiming that size does matter, Branson offers a bigger view of everything.

The new airline, V Australia, which flies from Down Under to Los Angeles apparently have the biggest seats, even in the economy section. Compliments have been flowing in from customers pleased with the extra space, but it isn’t just the seating that is new on the plane. Even the bathroom is prepped up with colourful wallpaper unlike the usually bland white walls usually seen on planes. The real luxury is, of course, experienced in the business class section which offers complementary thongs (!), gourmet meals and a seat that is akin to a bed.

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Virgin Atlantic has created a big name and a huge loyalty for itself over the years gone by. And now it is in the maintenance mode. With the interest of the world drawn towards space, we hear the famous airline company has come up with world’s first space line which they proudly and suggestively call Virgin Galactic (VG).

The cool concept is expected to become a rage with passengers as they will get an opportunity to become the first-ever non-professional astronauts. VG will include privately built spaceships modelled on the famous SpaceShipOne.

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