Fewer than 700 ‘future astronauts’ worldwide, yet Trip.com says it has sold 681 spaceflight tickets

Fewer than 700 ‘future astronauts’ worldwide, yet Trip.com says it has sold 681 spaceflight tickets

In mid-September, Trip.com listed a Virgin Galactic space tourism package on its platform: a suborbital flight experience from New Mexico in the United States, with a launch window in February 2027. The six-day itinerary includes four days of training, followed by the flight on the fifth day. Each ticket is priced at RMB5.1 million (about HK$5.9 million), excluding air fares and visa costs. Travellers must make their own way to Las Cruces. The platform page showed that 681 people had placed orders.

The figure of 681 sounds extraordinary at first glance. But before drawing conclusions, two questions need to be clarified: does it represent actual paid transactions or registrations of interest? And is the RMB5.1 million price a special markup targeting Chinese buyers? Both warrant verification.

Is RMB5.1 million a ‘China premium’? The figures suggest otherwise

The original report described the RMB5.1 million price as including a “China market premium factor”, based on Virgin Galactic’s historical ticket prices of US$250,000 and later around US$450,000. But a review of the company’s publicly disclosed pricing in recent years shows that fares have been raised several times. Following Sir Richard Branson’s flight in 2021, the price was set at US$450,000. The figure rose to US$600,000 between 2023 and 2025. When ticket sales resumed in early 2026, the official price was US$750,000 per passenger. At its second-quarter results briefing in August 2026, the company said that allocation had been oversubscribed and fully sold, and that it planned to introduce a higher price tier in the autumn.

In other words, Trip.com’s RMB5.1 million price converts to about US$735,000 to US$756,000 at the RMB-US dollar exchange rate of roughly 6.7 to 6.8 in mid-September. That is almost exactly in line with Virgin Galactic’s recently sold-out official global price, rather than indicating an additional “China premium”. The original report’s assessment does not hold up and has been amended here in light of the verification.

Who counted the 681 customers? The figure does not match the company’s own disclosures

More significant than the pricing is the sales figure of 681 itself. As a Nasdaq-listed company (ticker: SPCE), Virgin Galactic is subject to statutory disclosure requirements. According to its second-quarter results and SEC filings published on August 12, 2026, the company had about 675 “future astronauts” worldwide as of the end of June — customers who had reserved seats — representing about US$203 million in expected future revenue. At the results briefing on August 12, management said the “astronaut community” had grown to more than 700.

That means if the 681 “sold” units displayed on Trip.com refer to completed purchases through this single mainland Chinese platform, almost all of Virgin Galactic’s global customers would have bought through that channel in just one or two months. That is not logically plausible. A more likely explanation is that “681 sold” reflects Trip.com’s own reporting method and does not necessarily mean that the tickets have been paid for in full or constitute executable ticket contracts. It may also include registrations of interest or customers who have paid deposits. Public information cannot conclusively prove or disprove this point. It should therefore be treated as a clear question mark, rather than reported outright as 681 completed ticket sales.

Virgin Galactic’s finances: losses narrowing, but no end in sight

The original report was directionally correct in saying that Virgin Galactic remains loss-making, but the specific figures need updating. Company disclosures show a net loss of US$279 million for 2025, narrowed from US$347 million in 2024. Full-year revenue was only about US$2 million, down from US$7 million in 2024, while second-quarter revenue this year was just US$134,000, well below market expectations. As of the end of June, the company had US$286 million in cash and cash equivalents. It raised US$134 million through a share offering during the quarter and repaid US$93 million of debt principal. Its first commercial crewed flight has been postponed from the fourth quarter of 2026 to February 2027 because installing systems on the next-generation Delta spacecraft is taking longer than expected.

Even if all 681 customers had paid the full RMB5.1 million price — equivalent to about US$500 million — the money would not become company profit directly. Trip.com would take a commission, while Virgin Galactic’s research and development, manufacturing and financing costs are far greater than the amount covered by these advance payments. The original report was directionally correct on this point, which has been retained.

Blue Origin is not a rival ‘in the same race’ — it has paused operations

The original report described Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin as another cash-burning research and development competitor relying on advance sales to maintain its cash flow. That description is now outdated. Blue Origin announced on January 30, 2026 that it would suspend its New Shepard space tourism business for at least two years to concentrate resources on NASA’s Blue Moon lunar lander project. The NS-38 mission on January 22 was its latest crewed flight.

As of the time of reporting, Blue Origin had effectively withdrawn from operating suborbital space tourism, leaving Virgin Galactic as the only company still advancing a crewed commercial programme in the market — provided the Delta spacecraft makes its first flight as scheduled in February next year. Blue Origin has also never published an official ticket price. Market estimates have generally ranged from US$150,000 to US$450,000, rather than the “multi-million-dollar” level stated in the original report. The much higher figure was the US$28 million result of a charity-linked public auction for its first flight in 2021, and does not represent the normal cost for passengers. Both points in the original report differed from the verified information and have been rewritten accordingly.

Hong Kong readers can buy tickets too — but not through Trip.com

It is worth noting that spaceflight tickets have an established sales channel in Hong Kong. Miramar Travel has been Virgin Galactic’s authorised agent in Hong Kong for years, with a dedicated enquiry hotline serving local high-net-worth clients. The product listed by Trip.com is sold through a mainland channel, and the two are separate sales routes.

What to watch next

Points to watch include whether the February 2027 launch window is delayed again — Virgin Galactic has a poor record after multiple postponements — how many of the 681 orders ultimately result in completed payments, whether the company needs to raise more capital, and how the market responds to the higher price tier Virgin Galactic plans to introduce in the autumn. Space tourism is not a fictional concept, but it is still too early to portray it as an industry poised for take-off. At the very least, it would be wiser to wait until Virgin Galactic proves that it can avoid another delay before reaching any conclusions.