Billionaire Richard Branson, owner of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc., said it was reopening ticket sales for space travel to the general public from February 16. The announcement pushed its stock up more than 10% in premarket trading.
The ticket sold for USD 450,000, including an initial deposit of USD 150,000.
"We plan to have our first 1,000 customers at the start of commercial services later this year," said Virgin Galactic Chief Executive Officer Michael Colglazier in a statement quoted from Yahoo Finance in Jakarta, Wednesday (16/2/22).
Shares of Virgin Galactic have fallen 66% since October when the company suspended commercial space travel services until the fourth quarter of 2022.
These space flight reservations include access to the Future Astronaut community, which will give members access to space readiness events, trips, and activities prior to their trip.
Several companies including Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin are struggling to make space tourism a reality, and several have launched civilian missions.
