Virgin Galactic announced it will begin selling reservations for future spaceflights on Wednesday. The cost? Just $450,000.
Those interested in making a reservation will put down a $150,000 deposit, according to a news release. Doing so will give ticket holders access to other events, trips and “space-readiness activities,” according to the release
“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,” Virgin Galactic CEO Michael Colglazier said in the news release.
As of November 2021, about 700 reservations had been sold, per the company.
The announcement coincides with the unveiling of a new consumer brand and comes just one week before the Las Cruces company's scheduled fourth-quarter and full-year investor call. It also comes about one week after the appointment of Blair Rich as president and chief business officer for commercial and consumer operations.
The investor call on Feb. 22 could shed more light on the company's plans to start commercial spaceflights. In October, news that Virgin Galactic would delay commercial flights until the fourth quarter of 2022 sent the company's stock price down to about $20 a share. Since, shares of Virgin Galactic sunk lower and lower, reaching $7.96 on Jan. 27.
Tuesday's news pushed shares up to $10.74 at the close of the New York Stock Exchange, an increase of nearly 32%.
The company expects public spaceflights to last about 90 minutes, according to Tuesday's news release. That duration includes the launch, which is set to take place at Spaceport America near Truth or Consequences.
Once enough altitude has been reached, people are supposed to be able to unbuckle and float about the cabin weightlessly.
Richard Branson, Virgin’s billionaire founder, experienced just that in July when he and others took part in a test flight. However, Virgin’s space vehicle drifted out of its permitted airspace during the flight, which was followed by a Federal Aviation Administration.
The FAA subsequently announced that it cleared Virgin Galactic to resume flight operations after the company agreed to make changes in its communication procedures.
— Albuquerque Business First managing editor Chris Keller contributed to this story.
