Virgin Galactic will once again be able to book a journey to the final frontier for ambitious space tourists starting Wednesday (Feb. 16).
Before launching commercial service, the firm said on Tuesday (Feb. 15) that it will temporarily reopen its client waiting list. The entire ticket price is $450,000, with a $150,000 seat deposit.
Virgin Galactic had an estimated 700 or more customers in its pool as of November 2021, with plans to begin flying them on commercial trips in late 2022. Virgin Galactic stated at the time that by then, 1,000 passengers would be ready to fly, and it looks that the business is sticking to that plan.
"At Virgin Galactic, we believe that space is transformational," Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in a company statement on Tuesday. "We plan to have our first 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service later this year, providing an incredibly strong foundation as we begin regular operations and scale our fleet."
On Wednesday, the general public will be able to purchase tickets (Feb. 16). It's unclear how long Virgin Galactic will keep the buying window open; the company hasn't said when it'll close.
As the existing client pool illustrates, this isn't the first time you can buy a seat with Virgin Galactic. For example, in August 2021, a month after Virgin Galactic's first fully crewed space trip with founder Richard Branson on board, the business briefly resumed ticket sales. Previously, you could have bought a seat for $250,000 in that window; previously, you could have bought a seat for $250,000 in that window.
VSS Unity is a space plane operated by Virgin Galactic, which takes off from VMS Eve, a carrier aircraft. The space plane lifts off and flies to suborbital space under the power of its own rocket motor once the two had reached a height of around 50,000 feet (15,000 meters).
At any given time, the VSS Unity can accommodate up to six passengers and two pilots. From suborbital space, these humans enjoy a brief moment of weightlessness and can view the Earth's curvature.
However, due to maintenance and enhancement work on VMS Eve, which is projected to continue until mid-2022, VSS Unity has traveled to suborbital space four times so far.
Despite competition from Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin, which has three crewed suborbital spaceflights under its credit, Virgin Galactic is working on two more space aircraft to expand operations. Unpowered "glide flight" testing for Virgin Galactic's VSS Imagine is planned to begin this year, while VSS Inspire is still being built.