Virgin Galactic has resumed limited sales for seats on its spaceflight experience, with tickets now priced at $750,000 per person.
Sir Richard Branson outlined his ambitions for private space travel more than 20 years ago, but progress has been slower and more incremental than many expected.
After confirming plans in 2023 to operate commercial flights, the company has continued taking interest and reservations over the years, even though only a small number of people have so far made it beyond Earth’s atmosphere with Virgin Galactic.
That could soon shift. During a conference call with investors and media on Monday (March 30), CEO Michael Colglazier said the company is preparing to release a new batch of seats for future missions.
In total, 50 spots will be made available. The cost is steep—$750,000—and the flights are currently expected to take place in late 2026 or early 2027.
“With our first new spaceship preparing for its ground test phase, it’s time to welcome more people into Virgin Galactic spacefarer community, which already contains over 650 founding astronauts,” Colglazier said.
“We’ve opened a limited tranche of 50 space flight expeditions, each priced at $750,000. These space flights will be slotted in our manifest immediately after we fly the current members of our founding astronaut community, many of whom have been anticipating their space flight for several years.”
Colglazier also outlined a ramp-up in operations, saying the company aims to fly four 90-minute trips per month initially, with a longer-term goal of reaching as many as 10 missions in a 30-day period.
And while the current price is already eye-watering, he signaled it won’t necessarily stay there for long.
“We expect our prices will rise in steps over the near to medium term, and once this initial tranche of space flight reservations is concluded, we plan to retire sales at the $750,000 level,” he added.
Branson has previously suggested it will still take time before space tourism becomes commonplace—and at today’s cost, it’s easy to see why the experience remains far from mainstream.
Branson said: “I think realistically, it is. I mean, normally, I talk ahead of myself, but I think that before it becomes like commercial airline travel it’s going to take a few decades.
“But what I can say is we’ll do our best to speed it up. I’m getting I’m getting on and I’d like to see it. We’ll go as quickly as we can.”