Ashton Kutcher is headed to space aboard Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, Virgin founder Richard Branson has announced.

In a blog post, Branson revealed that the Two and a Half Men star and insanely popular Twitterer was the 500th customer to book passage on one of Virgin's planned suborbital space trips.

It's too early to say when the first SpaceShipTwo flights will be taking off. The craft is still being put through its paces in free-glide test flights, with rocket-powered tests expected later this year. A launch in 2013 seems likely, but Virgin won't commit to dates until the tests are completed.

Kutcher isn't the only famous name on the list of passengers for the $200,000 spaceflights. Tom Hanks, Katy Perry, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have reportedly signed up, and Jay-Z and Beyonce are said to be considering it. Famous physicist Stephen Hawking also has his ticket, a gift from Branson.

[msnbc]