ISS: Nasa is teaming up with Virgin to take people to space

Elon Musk is well known for his space ventures.

His privately owned space company SpaceX recently sent two astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS).

However, he isn't the only business person interested in sending humans to destinations beyond Earth.

Entrepreneur Richard Branson, whose company the Virgin Group provides a number of services including flights, broadband and gyms, wants to give people the opportunity to explore the universe through his spaceflight brand, Virgin Galactic.

The company has just signed a deal with Nasa to prepare budding astronauts for flights to the ISS in the future.

Nasa's Johnson Space Centre, which is based in Texas in America, will work with Virgin Galactic to develop a special programme to train those looking to travel to space.

As part of the programme, the organisations will have to identity people who are interested in buying astronaut missions to the ISS. They'll be required to train them up and they'll also have to provide suitable transportation for the mega journey.

George Whitesides, who is the CEO of Virgin Galactic, said: "We are excited to partner with Nasa on this private orbital spaceflight programme."

He added that the company wants to bring the "planetary perspective to many thousands of people".

It's not yet known when these future trips to space will take place, what the process to get on one will be, or how much they'll cost.

Would you want to travel to the ISS? Let us know in the comments!