Space tourism company Virgin Galactic announced Tuesday that it will open ticket sales to the public for the first time on Wednesday, requiring a $150,000 deposit.

Virgin Galactic ticket prices start at $450,000 each, as the company revealed last year, with three different sales offerings: a single seat purchase, packaged seats for couples, friends or family, or opportunities to book entire flights. The company has said previously that — of the $150,000 deposit — $25,000 is not refundable.

Shares of Virgin Galactic jumped 32% in trading to close at $10.74. The stock has been battered over the past 12 months, dropping 80%, with the company having delayed the beginning of commercial spaceflights to late this year.

Tue, Feb 15

Dr. Giada Nichole Arney – Co-deputy PI for the DaVinci mission to Venus.

SpaceX is gearing up to launch the Starship into orbit, the biggest test yet for the ship designed to send humans to Mars and beyond.

A rocket set to slam into the moon next month, initially identified as belonging to SpaceX, has now been identified as a Chinese rocket.

Last month.

The first private spacewalk!

The Polaris program could push SpaceX’s private crew missions to new heights. In the missions’ reveal, the company hints at a Starship crewed orbital flight and more.

While some of the criticism of late about billionaires going to space is valid — Virgin Galactic CEO’s 10 seconds of BARELY sub orbital jaunt, and Bezo’s midlife crisis flight and jacket photo-op — Musk is getting things DONE. I love the idea of billionaires funding entire missions, not for their own self gratification, but to Get. Things. Done. (with a touch of personal gratification, but it’s being in SPACE, who can blame them for a small bit of joy when it comes with so much benefit to all? That’s what separates Musk from his lesser peers.)

Tech entrepreneur Jared Isaacman announced Monday that he will make another private spaceflight launching from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center, alongside two SpaceX engineers and a former Air Force fighter pilot.

To the moon, Mars, and beyond.

Human spaceflight just got a major boost.

Polaris announced on February 14, 2022, that its first-of-its-kind Polaris Program is set to focus exclusively on rapidly advancing human spaceflight capabilities all while “continuing to raise funds and awareness for important causes on Earth,” per the company’s post on Twitter.

From Blue Origin’s space tourism rides to last year’s celebration of humans sending the 600th person to space in 60 years, more and more humans are being launched up to space. So it makes sense that a laser-focused program like the Polaris Program would solely focus on pushing along human spaceflight capabilities.

## Three missions with one goal.