Tourist flights into space may soon be a reality if one leading company has its way.

Spacesport Sweden hopes to begin launching tourist flights into space by 2012, with spokeswoman Johanna Bergstroem-Roos, saying, "We expect that the first tourist flights leaving from the United States will start around 2011 and that Kiruna (in northern Sweden) will be next about a year later, in 2012."

The flights will be run by Virgin Galactic, with Sir Ruchard Branson's company signing five Nordic travel agencies to be authorized to sell tickets to the both the U.S. and Swedish launch zones. Tickets will cost around 200,000 a piece, with the price likely to decrease over time.

Nearly 300 tickets have already been sold for the short tourist space flights, with Danes, Finns and Swedes among the first purchasers.

Customer will launch from New Mexico in the United States and from Kiruna, which is located about 90 miles from the Arctic circle.