Virgin Galactic Is Going Public And Space Tourism Will Soon Be Reality

Just around fifty years ago, Neil Armstrong was the first human to walk on the moon. Now, space tourism is actually going to be a thing.

Virgin Galactic just made an $800 million deal with Chamath Palihapitiya’s investment company Social Capital Hedosophia Holdings Corp. The company will acquire 49% of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, and their investment will help fund spaceships until the operations start bringing profit – which is predicted to be by August 2021.

“Since we put two spaceships into space earlier this year, and made five new astronauts – the first astronauts to have been made on American soil since 2009 – we’ve had 2,500 people ask to sign up,” Branson told CNBC. “The market is enormous.”

Tickets for this 90-minute space adventure are priced at $250,000 per seat, and Virgin Galactic said that they already have over 600 customers. Reportedly, two of those customers are Canadian pop star Justin Bieber and actor Leonardo DiCaprio. Branson also mentioned that 10 years from now prices, should decrease dramatically.

Now, it’s safe to say that Virgin Galactic is officially the first space tourism company to go public. Their first customers will be flying to space within a year, and we just can’t wait to hear more!