Cory Gunther
Less than a month after completing its crew’s first spaceflight, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic has reopened ticket sales. Consumers can now buy a seat for a quick minutes-long trip in space for $450,000.
Originally priced at $200,000 for a suborbital space flight back in 2013, which never happened, Branson then raised it to $250,000. But now, the new ticket price has rocketed to $450,000 for a seat on the VSS Unity spacecraft. Yes, that’s nearly half a million dollars to experience a few minutes of zero gravity. For those wondering, Virgin’s plane went up to 53.5 miles, 3.5 miles above where NASA considers space begins.
Virgin made the announcement alongside its financial results for the second quarter of the year. The company also took a moment to confirm that commercial service will begin in mid or late 2022 instead of early next year.
Virgin Galactic will offer buyers three different packages. In addition to the $450,000 starting price, it sells multi-seat packages for groups and even offers complete flight buy-outs. Considering the craft only holds four passengers, plus two pilots, a buy-out doesn’t seem out of the question if your pockets are deep enough.
Or, you could just stay at Disney’s new Galactic hotel for $4,800.
via Engadget
