Blue Origin has announced that it will start selling space tourism tickets on Wednesday, May 5 after years of testing and development.
Reuters in 2018 reported that Blue Origin plans to sell tickets for a journey for at least 200,000. dollars. The pricing was based on an evaluation of the competing plans of billionaire Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc (SPCE.N).
The new Blue Shepard rocket and capsule was designed for the autonomous flight of six passengers about 100 km above the Earth into suborbital space. High enough to experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the planet’s curvature before the pressure capsule returns to Earth.
Celebrities and wealthy people seem to be the target audience when it comes to selling tickets for these types of tours. However, industry sources expect the company to incorporate some philanthropic element into its sales strategy at least initially.
At the end of this year, Elon Musk’s four-person SpaceX crew, which includes an academic professor and data analyst from aviation and astronomy, is to take off into orbit.
Virgin Galactic also intends to fly with private customers in early 2022. The company says it will charge more than 250,000 USD but the final price has not been announced yet.