Virgin Galactic unveiled the slick cabin interior of its space tourist and suborbital research spaceship yesterday. For the “hundreds and thousands” who will first experience flying briefly to space, the experience will be priceless. Of course it’s also expensive at over US$250K a ticket for tourists. But wait, what about the rest of us?
As history has demonstrated, the average person may eventually get the chance to experience what only the rich few can afford when something new and exciting comes to the market.
Ferrari doesn’t make cars for the average person. It’s for the rich. But if you know someone that owns one you can get a ride in it. Alternatively you can rent one, if you’re willing to pay the price.
For now, the Virgin Galactic experience will be restricted to the few rich people who can afford it. But I believe that eventually the middle class will be able to afford a short ride to space, whether it’s with Virgin Galactic or some other company.
It’s been 16 years since Scaled Composites won the Ansari X Prize which began the journey that will culminate in the first space tourists flying on SpaceshipTwo later this year or early next year.
The “One Small Step” US$1000 astronaut deposit
Have you considered becoming a Virgin Galactic astronaut? If you put up a fully refundable US$1,000 fee, you will be joining their “Spacefarer community.” What does this get you? You get to be at the front of the line when new seats become available for sale. What’s that seat going to cost you? Your guess is as good as mine.
This is what Virgin Galactic says. “We have not disclosed that and we may be able to offer a range of prices, but we will initially be charging more than the US$250,000 price point offered to those who signed up early.”
Well, at least you know it will be more than US$250K. So, uh, go for it if you have the money to burn.
But think about it. Why should you give Virgin Galactic your money? As long as they stay in business, you can sign up anytime. But how long will you have to wait? A year, five years, 10 years? Your money would be better invested in a passive ETF where it can grow. Or heck, if you really believe in trying to grow your money in a risky way, you could buy Virgin Galactic stock. The stock has been as high as US$42.49 before the pandemic hit. Then like all stocks it dropped in March, has recovered some, and in the last month it has almost doubled. Wow! Just don’t look at the company financials. They would make you pause before investing. But if you do invest, well, you might grow your investment and use that money to pay the $1000 fee.
Suborbital research
There is one possible bright light with the Virgin Galactic business model, suborbital research. With NASA interested in the suborbital opportunities for research, including astronaut training, the company might finally see a different revenue stream come to fruition. If the price point is good, look for other countries to sign up as well as the company positions spacecraft at different spaceports globally.
The long journey
I’ve followed the Virgin Galactic journey since the beginning. If I had the money I’d be a customer. I want to go to space, even if it’s for a very short time. I think every human should see the Earth from space firsthand. Astronauts say it changes your perception of the world. I hope Virgin Galactic is in business for a long time. That way, the price will eventually come down so the average person can experience the excitement of going to space, being in space, and returning back to the Earth. That’s a priceless experience.