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Virgin Galactic announced on Friday that it had selected NBC to broadcast the space tourism company鈥檚 first commercial space flight next year. Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson, as well as his two adult children, Holly and Sam, will be the first tourists to visit space aboard the company鈥檚 supersonic spaceship, SpaceShipTwo.

NBC News' Peacock Productions said that it plans to chart SpaceShipTwo鈥檚 progress toward commercial readiness in broadcasts throughout the coming months on several NBCUniversal platforms, including Syfy and The Weather Channel. The series will conclude with a , hosted by Matt Lauer and Savannah Guthrie.

The broadcast is scheduled for August 2014, but could be delayed depending on the outcome of this month鈥檚 third rocket-boosted test flight for SpaceShipTwo.

鈥淲ithout a doubt, Sir Richard and his children taking the first commercial flight into space will go down in history as one of the most memorable events on television,鈥� said Sharon Scott, President and General Manager, Peacock Productions, in a statement.

To followers of Virgin Galactic and its parade of promotions for stylish suborbital tourism, the company鈥檚 forthcoming debut on national television will come as little surprise.

Space tourism is not quite new, as several people have paid tens of millions to visit the International Space Station. But it has never before been a business, as Sir Richard, in the world, hopes to make it. As a business 鈥� and one marketed just toward the richest of the rich, no less 鈥� it has furnished a lofty advertising campaign.

Seven years after SpaceShipTwo鈥檚 prototype made a successful test flight, Virgin Galactic has announced a reality T.V. show, 鈥淪pace Race,鈥� put out 聽and fantastic, if less alarming, as promos for the movie 鈥淕ravity,鈥� and christened its ship 鈥�.鈥� Champagne bottles have been whapped against SpaceShipTwo鈥檚 gleaming nose. The company has sold $250,000 tickets to Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher, and it-couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie. Ticket holders belong to 鈥減erhaps the world鈥檚 most exclusive club,鈥� as Virgin Galactic puts it.

It has also acquired a pop star. This week, US Weekly reported that Lady Gaga has , or 鈥済lam squad,鈥� in SpaceShipTwo sometime in 2015 and will sing one of her tracks aboard the craft (the announcement comes just days after the release of her somewhat space-themed song, 鈥淰enus"). This is expected to present some challenges for the singer.

In a video released in September of the spaceship鈥檚 second rocket-powered test flight, the two pilots聽strained to even count down the seconds as the ship boomed at a speed of Mach 1.43 to about 69,000 feet above the Mojave Desert. When the ship is market-ready, the peak altitude will be at least 367,442 feet, where the World Air Sports Federation defines space as beginning.

"She has to do a month of vocal training because of the atmosphere," an anonymous source told US Weekly.

The source also said that the performance will be part of an as of yet unannounced three-day musical festival, called Zero G Colony, at Spaceport America, the planned hub for space tourism. Lady Gaga鈥檚 festival will be at sunrise on the last day of the festival, the source said.

If all goes well, Lady Gaga could be the first artist to sing in space. This means that her songs could be possible aliens鈥� first exposure to Earth鈥檚 鈥渢raditional ballads,鈥� as aliens in Doctor Who refer to Brittney Spears鈥� songs some 5 billion years in the future.聽

Virgin Galactic is not alone in its vie for deep-pocketed space tourists. Last month, a new commercial space outlet, World View, announced plans to sell trips, at $75,000 a seat, to the middle of the stratosphere. Tickets holders will ride to 19 miles above the Earth aboard a capsule tethered to an enormous helium balloon.聽