Virgin Galactic reopened spaceflight ticket sales this week, with prices starting at $450,000 per seat.
During a second-quarter earnings report, the firm revealed plans for three consumer offerings: a single seat; a multi-seat couples/friends/family package; and a full-flight buyout of VSS Unity. The SpaceShipTwo-class suborbital rocket-powered plane is designed to carry two pilots and up to six passengers.
“Leveraging the surge in consumer interest following the Unity 22 flight, we are excited to announce the reopening of sales […] beginning with our Spacefarer community,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a statement. “As we endeavor to bring the wonder of space to a broad global population, we are delighted to open the door to an entirely new industry and consumer experience.”
Sales will open first to Virgin Galactic’s “significant” list of early hand-raisers, prioritizing its Future Astronaut Community. Interested future spacefarers can sign up online for more information on upcoming opportunities and research flights.
This move comes a month after the Federal Aviation Administration gave Virgin the green light to fly paying customers to the edge of space, and mere weeks after the firm successfully completed its first test flight with a full crew—including founder Richard Branson. The FAA permit is valid through July 2022 for missions from Spaceport America in New Mexico and California’s Mojave Air and Space Port.
“In the second quarter, we made meaningful progress towards commencing commercial service in 2022,” Colglazier said. The company’s next flight test, Unity 23, is scheduled for a late-September launch from Spaceport America, carrying members of the Italian Air Force.
After a planned break to refresh carrier aircraft VMS Eve, Virgin Galactic aims to test Unity 24 before beginning commercial services in late 2022, according to CNBC.
