Eight Taiwanese citizens have applied to take part in a space journey at a cost of US$200,000 per person, which is expected to create a fad for space travel if they return safely to Taiwan, a local travel agency said Thursday. Virgin Galactic, a space tourism operator affiliated with billionaire Richard Branson's London-based Virgin Group, which launched the travel plan initiative, has collected fares from more than 330 aspiring amateur astronauts who are willing to spend big money to experience about six minutes of suborbital spaceflight, according to Royal China Express, the Taiwan agent for Virgin Galactic. The company's suborbital spaceship SpaceShipOne will be airlifted into the skies for its maiden flight at the end of this year after receiving approval from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, according to the local travel agency. Six of the eight aspiring space travelers, including a surgeon, engineers at the Hsinchu Science-Based Industrial Park and businessmen, have already paid their fares, while a couple operating a jewelry business who filed applications earlier that day were scheduled to pay their fares next week in the hope of getting a fairytale journey into outer space in August 2011, the travel agency said. Another 10 people have also expressed interest in experiencing the trip if it is proved safe, it added. 