Virgin Galactic enters Chinese market with $760,000 space tourism packages

The space tourism industry is seeing increased competition between United States and Chinese companies. Virgin Galactic has partnered with the Chinese travel agency Ctrip to offer suborbital flight packages in the Asian market. These packages, priced at approximately $760,000 per passenger, include a six-day itinerary in the United States starting in Las Cruces, New Mexico. The program involves four days of training and simulation at Spaceport America before the flight.

Virgin Galactic aims to resume commercial operations in 2027 using its new Delta fleet. Meanwhile, Chinese firms such as Deep Blue Aerospace and CAS Space are developing their own suborbital flight projects. Chinese competitors may offer lower price points, with projected costs ranging between $150,000 and $210,000 per passenger, potentially challenging the dominance of established American providers like SpaceX and Blue Origin.