A small town in Northern Sweden, Kiruna has only 18,000 inhabitants, but it’s set the European base of operations for Virgin Galactic and their space program. Starting from 2010 or 2011, Kiruna Spaceport should begin operations.

One of the things that made Kiruna a candidate is the absolutely stunning view of the Aurora Borealis that they have. The passengers of the Virgin flights would have the chance to see the Aurora Borealis up close, and in the future enjoy the experience of a themed park, even if they don’t have the money to go for a ride in space. They could visit the space center, enjoy dog sled rides or see the Swedish mountains from a helicopter.

Right now, there are 250 people from all over the world that have booked reservations for a trip to space with Virgin Galactic, out of which 80 are already in training. Another 85,000 have expressed interest apparently. A reservation is $20,000, and the cost for the trip is $200,000.

Got those 200k? You can make a reservation here.

Tags:AuroraBorealis,KirunaSpaceport,VirginGalactic