After a decade of casting around for a space-themed show, reality TV producer Mark Burnett has finally found a way to launch his dream.

Burnett, creator of Survivor and The Voice, has unveiled a partnership with Virgin Galactic, a US offshoot of Richard Branson’s London-based Virgin Group, for a TV series that will send someone to space.

“For the past 10 years I have relentlessly pursued my dream of using a TV show to give an everyday person the chance to experience the black sky of space and look down upon mother Earth,” Burnett said in a statement.

Virgin Galactic intends to begin commercial spaceflight services aboard the suborbital SpaceShipTwo next year.

The six-passenger, two-pilot ship, which is undergoing testing in Mojave, California, is designed to fly about 100km above Earth and return, giving passengers a few minutes of weightlessness and a view of the planet set against the blackness of space.

About 630 people have put down deposits or purchased tickets for the ride, which now costs $250,000 a person.

The series, called Space Race, will feature contenders in an unscripted elimination competition. The winner will get a ticket to ride on SpaceShipTwo. Details of the show’s format, or when it will air, have not been released. (Reuters)