Richard Branson and his two children, son Sam and daughter Holly, will be the first passengers to experience Virgin Atlantic’s commercial space flight next year.

Branson and his children will embark on the initial test run, expected to lift-off by the end of 2013, The Telegraph reported.

One hundred and twenty customers have paid $200,000 for a seat on the first official commercial flight, planned for 2014.

“Virgin Galactic's goal is to revolutionize the way we get to space,” Mr Branson said.

The flight is scheduled to be a two-hour return trip.

Virgin Atlantic also announced that its new LauncherOne rocket, which recently received major investment, has the ability to launch satellites into orbit for a tenth of the cost, according to the Associated Press.