Chinese company opens sales of space tourism tickets in 2027

For this price, customers will get “more than just a brief weightless experience,” Deep Blue Aerospace said. “They will experience the vastness and mystery of the universe, witnessing majestic extraterrestrial landscapes. This will be a multi-sensory, comprehensive and lifelong space journey that will never be forgotten,” the company said. share.

Deep Blue Aerospace also introduced images of its suborbital flight system – a reusable rocket-spaceship combination similar to New Shepard of the American company Blue Origin.

To date, New Shepard has made eight human-carrying flights to the suborbital region, most recently on August 29. The ship can carry 6 passengers. They will experience a few minutes of weightlessness and see the blue Earth amid the dark universe during the 10-12 minute flight, from takeoff to landing. Deep Blue Aerospace’s suborbital flights may be the same.

Deep Blue Aerospace said the spacecraft will launch using the company’s Nebula-1 reusable rocket. The spacecraft flies at a maximum height of 100 – 150 km, can take passengers beyond the Kármán Line and into the edge of space. The suborbital flight lasts about 12 minutes, during which passengers will experience at least five minutes of weightlessness.

The round-trip ticket price is 1.5 million yuan (about 210,000 USD), less than half the cost of a suborbital flight by US company Virgin Galactic. Virgin Galactic is one of two companies that have successfully launched paid passengers into suborbital space, besides Blue Origin. While Blue Origin hasn’t revealed ticket prices, Virgin Galactic recently priced tickets at $450,000 for the roughly 90-minute journey to the edge of space.

Deep Blue Aerospace opened two tickets for sale at a live event on October 24 and were immediately purchased. Each buyer pays a deposit fee of 50,000 yuan. Their identities have not been disclosed. However, the conditions to buy tickets are to be between 18 and 60 years old and in good health. Next, buyers will undergo a rigorous physical examination to determine fitness for flight.

“The suborbital ship will land using a parachute system, ensuring passengers return safely to Earth. The spacecraft-rocket combination will also undergo dozens of tests in 2026 to ensure safety and reliable,” said a Deep Blue Aerospace representative.

Deep Blue Aerospace is not the only Chinese company planning to enter the space tourism market. CAS Space, a spinoff company of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), is also developing a suborbital human transport vehicle that could be operational in the next few years if all goes according to plan.