By Entrepreneur Staff
For the first time in years, Virgin Galactic is reopening ticket sales to people who want to take a ride on its rocket-powered suborbital space plane.The trip will cost them $450,000, which is an increase over previous prices.
Single-seat reservations will start at $450,000, but there are also multi-seat reservations as well as an option to buy out all six seats on a flight.
There will be seats available for microgravity research and professional astronaut training, costing $600,000. CEO Michael Colglazier laid out the new plan during an earnings call Thursday.
First dibs on the tickets will go to those who recently put down a $1,000 deposit to join the company’s “Spacefarer Community.” Around 1,000 people are on that list, but 600 people who bought tickets almost a decade ago are also on a waiting list. The prices back then were between $200,000 and $250,000.
Founder Richard Branson recently took a ride on the space plane himself.
The company says it’s ready to start commercial flights next year after revamping the plane’s design. In 2014, an accident during a test flight killed co-pilot Michael Alsbury.
