“We have people who wanted to fly to space their whole lives,” said Clare Pelly, the vice president for astronaut operations, “including some who saw the moon landing and said, ‘I will do that one day.’” The company’s customers, she said, are joined more by a shared set of values and life goals than a particular demographic, and 60 countries are represented on the waiting list.
“It sounds a little cheesy,” said Ms. Pelly, “but we deal with people’s lives and dreams.”
The company estimates that around 300,000 people globally have the appropriate net worth and desire to take part in a suborbital trip, a number that company officials predict will grow about 8 percent annually.
Virgin Galactic said it planned to substantially increase the accessibility of suborbital space travel in coming years as it adds new flights. Several more spaceships are being built, and there are plans for at least one more spaceport in Europe or the Middle East.