Virgin Galactic space flight could actually be happening this year according to the company owned by Billionaire Sir Richard Branson, it aims to start space tourism operations in the second half of this year.

However, the schedule of the first ever commercial space flight will depend on the company's progress with its test flights and its FAA's licensing process.

Virgin Galactic has to move its operation and vehicles from the Mojave, Calif. headquarters to New Mexico in preparation for a few pre-service flights to test its customer experience.

The company also revealed that for the past eight years that it had been taking reservations for the future space flight, it already has signed up around 680 customers or "future astronauts," as the company dubs them.

Presently, Virgin Galactic space flight costs $250,000, but the company is hoping to provide cheaper rate and reduce it to $100,000 instead for the next decade.

"Ultimately, the more customers we fly, the more affordable the pricing will become," said a Virgin Galactic spokesperson.

Virgin Galactic, the giant company owned by Richard Branson that aims to bring tourists to a commercial flight to space, is now accepting Bitcoins as form of payment for future space travel, in case you didn't know.

Richard Branson finds that the revolutionary company, Bitcoins "a brilliantly conceived idea" that was able to "really captured the imagination recently." Bitcoins, also known as "cryptocurrency" because of its military-standard cryptography to protect owners against fraud, can be obtained by purchasing them from someone using any regular currency or by earning them through Bitcoins Mining, a system dedicated for Bitcoins transactions.

"All of our future astronauts are pioneers in their own right," Branson, penned in an online blog post titled "Bitcoins in space." "This is one more way to be forward-looking."

Virgin Galactic has already received payments through Bitcoins, a flight attendant from Hawaii was one of the customers who have purchased a ticket to Virgin Galactic using Bitcoins, according to Branson.

"I hope that it will become more widely accepted," he penned. "A few years ago many people had doubts about whether Virgin Galactic would ever get off the ground. Now we have gone supersonic, are a long way along the testing process, and are looking forward to launching commercial space flight."

Bitcoins has become very controversial since its launching and Virgin Galactic's acceptance of the revolutionary currency came in a very remarkable time. Bitcoins has been a subject for congressional hearings recently.

Virgin Galactic was one of the few establishments who have been accepting Bitcoins as a payment. A university in Cyprus has been accepting bitcoins as a form of payment for tuition fees and other miscellaneous and extra-curricular fees. An online travel agency, CheapAir.com that is based in Los Angeles has also been accepting the cryptocurrency for flight payments.

Bitcoins has been the talk of the town when it was involved in an illegal controversy recently. The 29-year old San Francisco based Ross Ulbricht has been arrested for allegedly masterminding an online black market emporium Silk Road, that has been accused for selling illegal drugs and weaponries.

Virgin Galactic is scheduled to take its first ever-commercial space flight late this year, where VSS Enterprise will take on board its first passengers, Sir Richard Branson, 63, and his children, Holly, 31, and Sam, 28.