Virgin Galactic Reopens Seats on Upcoming Spaceflights for $450,000 USD

Virgin Galactic has reopened ticket sales for upcoming spaceflights, with seats starting at $450,000 USD each.

The company successfully completed its first fully-crewed spaceflight last month, with its billionaire founder Richard Branson on board. The event was live-streamed for audiences around the world, and showed the spacecraft reaching an altitude of 53.5 miles above the Earth before making a safe return to Spaceport America.

Seats were first offered up for $250,000 USD before ticket sales were halted in December 2018. In its second quarter financial results released Thursday, the Virgin Galactic said sales have since reopened, with prices beginning at $450,000 USD.

According to the release, the company will have three consumer offerings for the private astronaut market: a single seat option, a multi-seat option and a full-flight buy out. Sales will initially open to those who signed up early for the opportunity, giving first priority to the company’s Spacefarer Community. A follow-up priority list will be opened to customers interested in booking future spaceflights.

The company also announced that its next rocket-powered spaceflight, titled Unity 23, is slated to take place in late-September. “This flight will be a revenue-generating flight with the Italian Air Force,” it added.

If the $450,000 USD price tag is too steep, the company announced last month that it was partnering with fundraising platform Omaze to offer up two tickets for an upcoming spaceflight. The winners will get to experience weightlessness and a view of Earth from space aboard an upcoming Virgin Galactic suborbital flight estimated to take place in early 2022.

Other tech moguls, including Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk, are also eager to begin offering commercial spaceflight options to the public. Find out more about the billionaire space race here.