'200 Million Won Space Tourism' Era Opened by Richard Branson... Who Will Be the First Customer?

Successful First Space Test Flight by British Billionaire Chairman Branson
Space Tourism Ticket Prices Approximately $200,000 to $250,000
Over 600 Global Billionaires Already Booked
Many Celebrities Including Tom Hanks... Elon Musk Also Included

Richard Branson, Chairman of Virgin Group, on a space demonstration flight / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Juhyung] Richard Branson, the British billionaire and founder of the global company Virgin Group, has fired the starting signal for the era of space tourism by successfully completing a test flight of a spacecraft. Virgin Galactic, the space tourism company operated by Branson, plans to launch full-scale commercial services starting in 2022, drawing attention to the list of the first customers who purchased the astronomically priced 'space tourism tickets.'

On the 11th (local time) at around 7:40 a.m., Branson succeeded in a 'suborbital tourism' flight aboard the spacecraft 'VSS Unity,' manufactured by Virgin Galactic. Suborbital tourism refers to a flight that ascends to the altitude where space begins, allowing passengers to experience weightlessness and view the Earth.

VSS Unity is a special spacecraft equipped with a propulsion rocket. It is carried by the mothership 'VMS Eve' to a certain altitude, then the rocket is ignited to ascend into space.

The test flight included Branson, two pilots, and three executives who experienced space tourism together.

With the success of Unity's suborbital flight, Branson became the first among the three billionaires competing in private space ventures to take the lead in the commercial space tourism era. Currently, Jeff Bezos, chairman of Amazon's board, plans space flights through his space exploration company 'Blue Origin,' and Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, is also preparing to challenge orbital flights with 'SpaceX.'

Branson Chairman and Elon Musk, Tesla CEO, took a commemorative photo before the test flight / Photo by Twitter Capture

Virgin Galactic is expected to begin full-scale commercial space tourism services as early as next year. However, there is still a long way to go before the general public can participate in space tourism.

Currently, the price of Virgin Galactic's space tourism tickets is around $200,000 to $250,000 (229.14 million to 286.42 million KRW), making it prohibitively expensive for ordinary people.

As a result, the first customer list for humanity's inaugural space tourism consists of wealthy individuals such as businesspeople and famous actors. According to Virgin Galactic, about 600 people have already made reservations for space tourism, including actors Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks, as well as world-renowned singer Justin Bieber.

Branson's rivals, Chairman Bezos and CEO Musk, have also been confirmed as purchasers of Virgin Galactic's tourism tickets. Regarding this, Branson said in an interview with the British media 'The Sunday Times,' "Elon Musk is my friend," adding, "He bought our space travel ticket, and I too can someday board his spacecraft and travel."