Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc. plans to increase the cost of tickets for suborbital tourist missions after resuming sales in the first quarter of 2026. Spacecraft launches were temporarily suspended in June 2024, snob.ru reports, citing Bloomberg.
Previously, the space company founded by Richard Branson offered seats on board its ships for about $600,000. However, Virgin Galactic’s management is keeping the exact size of the future price increase a secret for now.
According to the company’s official statements, the first flight of the new spacecraft with a scientific research mission will take place in the summer of 2026. Commercial flights with private astronauts will resume a little later – in the fall of the same year.
The upgraded Delta series ships will be able to take on board six passengers instead of four, as was the case with previous models. Virgin Galactic representatives claim that they will cope with servicing the current queue of customers waiting for space travel in about a year.
The last tourist flight under the management of Virgin Galactic was carried out on June 8 last year with passengers from Turkey, the United States and Italy. The duration of their stay in space was about one hour.
