BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. – A Danish adventurer is first in line to ride aboard a privately funded, two-seat rocket ship designed by a California rocket maker to fly about 37 miles above Earth.

Xcor Aerospace said today that Per Wimmer, an investment banker based in London, will be the first passenger aboard Lynx, a space tourism vehicle designed to take off and land like an airplane. He’s also an investor in the Mojave, Calif.-based company.

Wimmer hopes his flight will come in 2011, after a series of test flights. Officials said tickets are selling for $95,000 each and reservations have been made for 20 flights.

Xcor’s main competitor is building SpaceShipTwo, an eight-seat craft that will take passengers some 62 miles above Earth for $200,000 each.