Richard Branson, billionaire, daredevil, and space explorer. That's right. He'll be on board Virgin Galactic's first commercial space tourism flight, and he's confirmed that will take place sometime next year with his two kids coming along for the right.

The trip will be made with the company's SpaceShipTwo craft which has completed test flights and is capable of flying 100 kilometers above the Earth for a planned two and a half hour flight with five minutes of weightlessness.

AP notes that 529 people have already signed up for the $200,000 per person ride into space. Bookings can still be made on Virgin Galactic's website.

[The Verge, AP (Yahoo News), Virgin Galactic]