Virgin Galactic, which took founder Sir Richard Branson into space last summer, announced it has now sold 100 space travel tickets, and said in its earnings report that the first commercial space flight will be launched by the end of 2022.
Tickets cost $450,000, which is significantly higher than the $200,000 to $250,000 bookings made from 2005 to 2014. However, the current price is the original price because 600 people who made a previous reservation received the early reservation discount.
Virgin Galactic intended to accelerate the start of commercial spaceflight with a flight carrying Sir Branson. However, the flight permit was suspended in September, saying it was out of orbit and was not reported to the regulatory body, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). It was then announced in October that it would postpone flight crews, including Italian Air Force pilots, scheduled for at least mid-2022. The delay was due to a lack of necessary strength margins for some of the parts used in the aircraft, he said.
Work must be done to address this issue, and Virgin Galactic commercial spaceflight is expected to begin around the end of 2022. Related information can be found here.