Fancy a trip into space? No problem. Simply pop across to Manly or Mosman and book it. Space travel is now literally on our doorstep. Virgin Galactic has appointed its first Australian travel agents.

Galactic's CEO Stephen Attenborough was in very low orbit around the country a couple of weeks ago interviewing a short list of candidates. Nine have been chosen to sell the space tourism venture.

Five Australians have already signed up for space. Two are from Cosmos magazine, the founder and chairman Dr Alan Finkel and Cosmos editor Wilson da Silva. Dr Finkel purchased their seats some time ago to ensure he and his editor would be among the first 100 tourists to fly with Virgin Galactic. This could occur as soon as 2008. Both have already visited the US launch site in the Mohave Desert. Another aspiring Aussie "leisurenaut" is Virgin Blue CEO Brett Godfrey. That airline hopes to provide some of the pilots for space tourism.

Gil Maclachlan of Travel Media Group, which owns Harvey World Travel outlets in Mosman and Manly, is confident many more adventurous, cashed-up Sydneysiders will be keen to take the flight of a lifetime. "We're now taking bookings and confident we'll sell quite a few tickets for the early flights," he says.

Drew Kluska, founder of Outback Encounter, rightly describes his company's new role as a "huge milestone in travel history". Kluska specialises in highly individualised travel within Australia for select clients. His horizons now extend so much further. "Being a once-in-a-lifetime-experience, orbital space travel is expected to enjoy a rapid growth over years to come," he says.

Prospective space tourists will certainly need wealth. A sub-orbital flight lasting three hours, with about 15 minutes spent in space, is expected to cost $264,000, although that does include three days of space training before blast-off. A $26,000 refundable deposit is required to secure a seat.

Virgin Galactic's spacecraft are being modelled on Spaceship One, developed by Burt Rutan and financed by former Microsoft owner Paul Allen, which in October 2004 won the $US10 million Ansari-X prize when it became the first private manned spacecraft to twice exceed an altitude of 328,000 feet within the space of two weeks.

The first sub-orbital flights aboard the VSS Enterprise will take off from the Mohave Desert. Virgin Galactic will later shift operations to a spaceport planned in New Mexico.

So book now! Here's where:

Bicton Travel, WA
Harvey World Travel Erina, NSW
Harvey World Travel Mosman & Manly, NSW
Harvey World Travel MacKay, QLD
Meridian Travel, VIC
MTA Travel QLD
Outback Encounter, SA
Spencer Travel, NSW
World Travel Professionals NSW, QLD

Competitors in the tourist race into space include Rocketplane Kistler and Space Adventures, which is offering a sub-orbital flight for about half the price of Virgin Galactic. To the best of my knowledge neither has yet appointed Australian booking agents.