Virgin Galactic reopens flights to take people on tours of space for $750,000
Virgin Galactic has re-commenced limited ticket sales for its space voyage at a price of just $750,000 per person.
Sir Richard Branson first delivered his vision of space exploration more than two decades ago and it's fair to say things haven't exactly kicked off from there.
In 2023, Virgin Galactic announced it would be launching commercial flights and has been taking taking bookings for the voyage for a number of years.
However, Branson and co have only sent a handful of passengers beyond Earth's atmosphere, though it looks like things may be about to change.
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Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, revealed in a conference call with investors and press on Monday (March 30) that the company would soon be opening up 50 spaces for people hoping to take part in the voyage.
The price? Well, now it's going to set you back a whopping $750,000 and flights are set to depart 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."
The Virgin Galactic CEO said on Monday that the company would begin running four 90-minute voyages into space per month, before hopefully reaching ten flights per 30-day period in the years to come.
Colglazier has warned the already hefty price tag would be increased ever more at some point in the future.
"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 previously told LADbible in 2023 that he thought it would still be a few more years before space exploration would become the norm.
And to be honest, when you look at the price this voyage will cost, it's hardly surprising.
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."
Topics: Richard Branson, Travel, Space
Callum Jones