Though physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking is famous for his studies of space, he has yet to journey into the cosmos to see them up-close. Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson has stepped in to change that, offering the researcher a seat on his spaceship.

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Hawking, 75, announced his travel plans on Good Morning Britain, Yahoo reports.

"I thought no one would take me, but Richard Branson has offered me a seat on Virgin Galactic and I said yes immediately," said Hawking.

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Virgin Galactic – Branson’s spaceflight company – hopes to soon carry people into the cosmos on commercial flights, according to the Independent. There were initial plans to complete a flight in 2009, but various complications threw the plan off.

Hawking's work has focused on the basic laws governing our universe. One of his most noted scientific contributions is a collaboration with mathematical physicist Roger Penrose in which they showed Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have began during the Big Bang and ended in black holes, according to Hawking’s website.

He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease – shortly after his 21st birthday, his website also said.

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