SPACEPORT AMERICA (New Mexico), Aug 11: Billionaire Richard Branson's Virgin
Galactic has announced it will charge a fare of $450,000 per ticket for space
travel, which is almost double of what it had originally proposed. Anyone can
register here for an invitation: Register Your Name Here
Branson has said that priority will be given to those who had already sought
tickets in the first lot offered before his inaugural flight last month. About
600 tickets were sold at that time for $250,000 each for a ticket.
Virgin Galactic said, "Our vision is to operate hundreds of flights each year
from Spaceport America, and other spaceport locations around the globe."
He said there will be an option to book an entire flight consisting of six
seats in the spacecraft's cabin. “We expect many consumers will want to fly
with friends or family, and we will customize the experience to meet their individual
preferences,” Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Michael Colglazier said.
Michael Colglazier said, "Leveraging the surge in consumer interest following
the Unity 22 flight, we are excited to announce the reopening of sales... As
we endeavour 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."
Virgin will undertake some more test missions before launching the paid trips
next year. The next flight, Unity 23, may be in September, from Spaceport America
in New Mexico as earlier.
Shares of Virgin Galactic went up by 8% by weekened, following Branson's announcement.
Branson's competitors in space tourism are Blue Origin of Amazon founder Jeff
Bezos and Space X owned by Tesla's Elon Musk. Both Branson and Bezos had flown
to the edge of space last month in their own spacecraft to experience weightlessness
and have a view of the Earth from the space. Space X had already conducted its
first crewed test flight of its Dragon spacecraft to the International Space
Station last year.
Bezos and Musk have not finalised their price for a ticket for the space flight
although Blue Origin is reportedly fixing the cost for a ticket in the range
of $2,00,000 and $3,00,000.