(Reuters)

Spaceship company Virgin Galactic said it will open ticket sales on Thursday (August 5) for space flights starting at US$450,000 a seat, weeks after billionaire founder Richard Branson’s high-profile trip to the edge of space.

Branson soared more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert aboard a Virgin Galactic rocket plane on July 11 and safely returned in the vehicle’s first fully crewed test flight to space, a symbolic milestone for a venture he started 17 years ago.

RECEIVED APPROVAL TO FLY PEOPLE TO SPACE

Shares of the company rose five per cent in extended trading on Thursday.

In June, Virgin Galactic received approval from the US aviation safety regulator to fly people to space.

The company said it will have three consumer offerings – a single seat, a multi-seat package and a full-flight buy out.

Sales will initially open to the company’s significant list of “early hand-raisers”, it said.