Hi, It’s Stu Rothenberg’s voice mail. Today is a good day to travel. And tomorrow is the perfect time to book your flight to space…..”

Stuart Rothenberg remembers the thrill he felt as a kid growing up in Fair Lawn when Neil Armstrong took his first small step onto the surface of the moon in the summer of 1969. What new possibilities lay ahead, the precocious nine-year-old wondered. How long would it be before ordinary people were able to experience the cosmos and what was formerly considered science fiction would become a routine occurrence?

“We all thought that this would happen 20 years ago,” said Rothenberg, president of Travelong, a Summit-based company that arranges luxury travel, “and now it’s finally taking off.”

Literally. The company’s latest offering is from Virgin Galactic, a subsidiary of Sir Richard Branson’s empire, and offers those willing to pay a mere $200,000 a chance to fly in a suborbital spaceship that could be flying passengers as early as 2009 (see sidebar).

“The space flight right now is for people who have the means or people who want to have bragging rights, who want to say they’ve done it first,” said Rothenberg. “They have different reasons for wanting to go up; some have said that they want to feel closer to God.”

The fee includes luxury accommodations and three days of training.

Virgin Galactic announced the program two years ago, drawing international interest. Those who purchased the first 100 tickets — paid in full and already sold out — receive the designation of “Founder.” The next 400 slots, called “Pioneers” — who are required only to make huge down payments — are also moving quickly. (Don’t worry, the deposit is refundable.)

Rothenberg, a resident of Maplewood, is just beginning to sell the program locally. “If you ask me in two weeks, I think I’ll actually have two people signed up,” he said. “[They’ve] basically said to me they’re ready to put down a deposit. I’m still talking to them about a lot of issues; nothing’s set in stone yet.”

He expects prices to come down to a “more reasonable” $50,000 to $100,000 within the next 10 years or so. “I’d love to go up, but it’s a little expensive for me right now,” said Rothenberg, whose son Jake becomes a bar mitzva at Congregation Beth El in South Orange in a few weeks. The family — which includes wife Talya, daughter Dania, 16, and son Matthew, eight — had just returned from Israel, where they visited Elana, 18, who is participating in a year-long Young Judaea program.

Rothenberg, 46, enjoyed a brief “retirement” after selling his previous business, Travel Strategies International, which had offices in Teaneck, Morris Plains, and Newark. He recently joined Travelong, a 70-year-old luxury agency.

While debating whether to join the firm, he attended an industry convention in Las Vegas sponsored by Virtuoso, a high-end industry network that has exclusive rights to sell Virgin Galactic’s spaceflight program.

“When they announced that, I said that’s it; this is where I’m going to hang my hat, selling space travel,” he said.

Rothenberg went through an extensive application and interview process at the Kennedy Space Center near Orlando, Fla., after which he was selected as one of only 45 travel professionals in the United States with the rights to sell Virgin Galactic flights.

Of course, not having taken the trip himself, Rothenberg said, he can’t speak from experience as he discusses the program with prospective clients.

“The people I’m selling to actually know more about space than I do,” he said. “What I’ll be able to do is tell them what to expect from the experience: the G-force, zero gravity, what they’ll see.”

“I’m happy to put people in such a unique experience,” he said, comparing the venture with that of America’s earliest settlers. “I wonder who the travel agent was for the Mayflower.”