Space holidays for ordinary people

How close is space tourism to being affordable?

Space tourists have flown on Blue Origin's New Shepard. Its flight NS-38 carried six people to suborbital space on 22 January 2026 and landed about ten minutes after launch. Virgin Galactic has not yet started commercial service. In August 2026 it moved the entry into service of its first ship to February 2027. Private crews have also flown to orbit, on Inspiration4 in 2021 and Polaris Dawn in 2024, and these flights have been few. No operator in the sources reviewed has published a New Shepard seat price. Virgin Galactic's first tranche of expeditions was priced at $750,000 and sold out.

AI illustration · Illustrative scene, not a photograph of the specific device or experiment.
WHERE WE AREPilots

Close. Early pilots are running in the real world.

Space tourists have flown on a suborbital vehicle, and private crews have flown to orbit, so the hardware has been shown to work for these trips. Flights are still few, and the sources reviewed give no published schedule for New Shepard. No operator in the sources reviewed has published a New Shepard seat price. Virgin Galactic has not begun commercial service. Pilot fits because operators are flying small numbers of tourists, not running regular, low-priced service.

The tech tree

Everything recorded on Vrulum that this future needs, oldest foundations at the top and the goal at the bottom. Lines show what each step requires.

What it takes: Space holidays for ordinary people Unlocked Being researched Locked
  1. 2017Asteroid miningResearch and prototypes Being researched.
  1. 2014In-space manufacturingResearch and prototypesRequires: Asteroid mining. Being researched.
  1. 1964Reusable launch vehiclesPilot and early commercialRequires: In-space manufacturing. Unlocked.
  1. 2021Commercial space stationsResearch and prototypesRequires: Reusable launch vehicles. Being researched.
  1. 2021Private crew flown to orbitDone Unlocked.
  2. 2024Repeated private orbital missionsIn progress Being researched.
  3. 2026Space tourists flown on a suborbital vehicleDone Unlocked.
  4. 2027Commercial suborbital service by Virgin GalacticIn progress Being researched.
  5. Date not recordedSeat prices that ordinary households can payNot started Locked.
  6. Date not recordedOccupant safety rules for paying passengersIn progress Being researched.
  1. GoalSpace holidays for ordinary peopleGoalRequires: Reusable launch vehicles, Commercial space stations, Space tourists flown on a suborbital vehicle, Commercial suborbital service by Virgin Galactic, Private crew flown to orbit, Repeated private orbital missions, Seat prices that ordinary households can pay, Occupant safety rules for paying passengers. Locked.

The road so far

2 of 6 steps done, 3 in progress.

  1. Done · 22 Jan 2026Space tourists flown on a suborbital vehicle

    Blue Origin's NS-38 New Shepard flight launched on 22 January 2026 from West Texas with six people aboard and landed about ten minutes later. Blue Origin states that New Shepard has now flown 98 humans (92 individuals) into space. The sources reviewed do not give the price paid for the flight. [1][2]

  2. In progress · Feb 2027Commercial suborbital service by Virgin Galactic

    Virgin Galactic has not yet started commercial service. Its release of 12 August 2026 says the first ship is now expected to enter commercial service in February 2027, previously expected in Q4 2026. The company expects to start the flight test phase with this vehicle in October 2026. [3]

  3. Done · 18 Sept 2021Private crew flown to orbit

    Inspiration4 flew a crew of four private citizens on a SpaceX Crew Dragon from Kennedy Space Center. The crew spent three days in space and splashed down off Florida at 7:06 p.m. EDT on 18 September 2021. Scientific American calls it SpaceX's first all-civilian crew and gives the orbit as 590 km above Earth. [6]

  4. In progress · 10 Sept 2024Repeated private orbital missions

    Polaris Dawn flew a private crew of four from 10 to 15 September 2024. The official mission site gives a peak apogee of 1,408.1 km and says the spacewalk reached altitudes as high as 740 km. The site calls it the first commercial astronaut spacewalk, and Popular Science dates it to 12 September 2024. Axiom Space's fifth private mission to the International Space Station is targeted for no earlier than January 2027, with a stay of roughly two weeks, but no crew had been announced in the source reviewed. [7][8][5]

  5. Not startedSeat prices that ordinary households can pay

    No New Shepard seat price is published in the sources reviewed. Virgin Galactic's first tranche of spaceflight expeditions was priced at $750,000 and sold out. The company says it will release a new tranche at higher price points this autumn. [3]

  6. In progressOccupant safety rules for paying passengers

    The FAA's rules in 14 CFR Part 460 cover crew and space flight participants. CRS says licensees must notify all human occupants in writing of potential risks (sections 460.41 to 460.53). A statutory learning period limits FAA occupant-safety rules and was extended to 1 January 2028. The FAA's rulemaking committee had not published its recommendations as of January 2025, according to the CRS update dated 4 February 2025. [4]

Why it matters

Ticket prices decide who can go to space. Regular flights at lower prices would show whether trips can run safely and often enough to reach people beyond the very wealthy. The rules for occupant safety also shape what operators can offer and how much risk passengers must accept.

What stands in the way

  • Ticket prices: no New Shepard seat price is published in the sources reviewed, and Virgin Galactic's first tranche was priced at $750,000.
  • Flight rate: crewed suborbital flights are few and irregular, and the sources reviewed give no schedule for future New Shepard flights.
  • Schedule: Virgin Galactic has moved first commercial service to February 2027, after expecting Q4 2026.
  • Occupant-safety rules are not final. The FAA's learning period runs to 1 January 2028, and its rulemaking committee had not published recommendations as of early 2025.
  • Safety record: a 2014 crewed commercial test flight killed one pilot and injured another. CRS reports that no commercial spaceflight has yet caused a tourist or government astronaut fatality.

Published forecasts

What others have predicted. These are their estimates, not ours.

WhoForecastTimeframeMade
Virgin GalacticThe first ship is expected to enter commercial service in February 2027, with the flight test phase starting in October 2026. The company's release of 12 August 2026 gives this as a revised date, previously Q4 2026. [3]202712 Aug 2026

Signals to watch

  • A published seat price for New Shepard or Virgin Galactic flights, with the terms and conditions stated.
  • Virgin Galactic starting commercial service with paying passengers, as the company now expects in February 2027.
  • A published flight schedule for New Shepard, and the number of crewed flights in a year.
  • FAA rulemaking on occupant safety, and whether Congress extends the learning period beyond 1 January 2028.
  • Axiom Space's Ax-5 flying with a named crew, and any published price for a private ISS mission.

Sources

  1. news
    Blue Origin launches 38th New Shepard flight into space
    Greg Norman. Fox Business, 22 Jan 2026.
  2. news
    Blue Origin Sends Six Space Tourists to Edge of Space
    AIAA, 23 Jan 2026.
  3. company announcement
    Virgin Galactic Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results and Provides Business Update
    Virgin Galactic, 12 Aug 2026.
  4. government report
    Commercial Human Spaceflight Safety Regulations (IF12508)
    Rachel Lindbergh. Congressional Research Service, 13 Oct 2023.
  5. news
    Startvorbereitung von Axiom Mission 5 (Ax-5) ISS
    CENAP (hjkc.de), 1 Feb 2026.
  6. news
    SpaceX's Private Inspiration4 Crew Is Back on Earth
    Scientific American, 21 Sept 2021.
  7. company announcement
    Polaris Dawn
    Polaris Program, 2024.
  8. news
    Polaris Dawn astronauts complete historic first commercial spacewalk
    Popular Science, 12 Sept 2024.

Last reviewed 22 Oct 2026.