Virgin Galactic starts selling tickets to space as losses continue

Virgin Galactic Holdings Inc said it has started selling tickets to space, with prices starting at $450,000 per seat, as the business continued to lose money in the past quarter. After founder Sir Richard Branson made headlines around the world for his space flight last month, the space tourism company said it will have three offerings for “the private astronaut market”. These will start with a single seat for the above price, then there will be multi-seat package options for “couples/friends/family”, and those with the deepest of pockets can pay for a “full-flight buy out”. Chief executive officer Michael Colglazier said: “Leveraging the surge in consumer interest following the Unity 22 flight, we are excited to announce the reopening of sales effective today, beginning with our Spacefarer community.” Those on its Spacefarer list have long been promised the first opportunity to reserve their place in space. Virgin Galactic said a follow-on priority list will now also be opened to customers interested in reserving future spaceflights. Before then, the next spaceflight aboard the Unity spaceship is scheduled to be a revenue-generating flight for late-September with the Italian Air Force of all people. As for the financials, Virgin Galactic reported a net loss of $94mln for the three months to end-June, but this was down on the US$130mln in the first quarter and $72mln this time last year. Cash levels remained Scrooge McDuck-like, with a US$552mln pile in the bank.