Please register to access this content.
To continue viewing the content you love, please sign in or create a new account
Dismiss
This content is for our paying subscribers only

Business Aviation

Virgin Galactic jumps after unveiling new $450,000 ticket price

Blue Origin and Space X are working on tourism offerings of their own



Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity, piloted by CJ Sturckow and Dave Mackay, is released from its mothership, VMS Eve, on the way to its first spaceflight after launch from Spaceport America, New Mexico, U.S. May 22, 2021 in a still image from video.
Image Credit: Reuters

Inflation isn't just climbing here on Earth. Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. has resumed ticket sales for trips to space at a new price of $450,000 a ride, spurring a share rally.

Sales are restarting immediately and available tickets range from individual seats to a "full-flight buyout," Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier said in a statement late Thursday as the company reported financial results. Virgin Galactic had charged $250,000 for each ticket, before halting sales while it continued work on its spacecraft.

The Las Cruces, New Mexico-based company is looking to build a space-tourism business after a successful test flight last month with founder Richard Branson and five Virgin Galactic employees aboard. The suborbital trip lasted about an hour. Jeff Bezos's Blue Origin and Elon Musk's Space Exploration Technologies Corp. are working on tourism offerings of their own.

Virgin Galactic advanced 12% to $35.42 at 10:03 a.m. in New York after advancing as much as 13% for the biggest intraday gain in about a month.

Advertisement