Chinese company Deep Blue Aerospace has announced that it will begin providing suborbital space tourism services in 2027. The first two tickets for this flight have already been sold at a price equivalent to $210 thousand. However, so far the rocket and capsule for this attraction exist either on paper or in the form of early prototypes.
Image Source: Deep Blue Aerospace
On Wednesday, October 23, when Deep Blue Aerospace announced the new service, plans were announced and pictures of the future rocket and passenger capsule were shown. What you cannot blame Deep Blue Aerospace for is that it is engaged in real space projects. In particular, the company is creating a reusable first stage of the Nebula-1 rocket. The stage has already made a number of successful jumps to a height of 100 m and one relatively successful jump to a height of 100 km.
The Nebula-1 recovery and recovery experience will be consolidated over dozens of launches in 2025. In 2026, launches with a passenger capsule will begin, and only after that, in 2027, launches with people (tourists) to an altitude of 100–150 km will begin. The company promises an unforgettable 600 seconds in zero gravity to everyone who wants to ride on its rocket.
The tourist capsule, 3.5 m wide and 4 m high, will have 6 seats and 6 windows. It will be able to accommodate a payload of 1,200 kg and will be reused up to 50 times. The ticket price is set at 1.5 million yuan, which today is equivalent to $210 thousand. This is three times cheaper than what Blue Origin charges today for one passenger (Virgin Galactic does not disclose the cost of tickets for its suborbital flights).
In China, in addition to Deep Blue Aerospace, the state-owned company CAS Space is also planning to engage in suborbital tourism. It also plans to begin providing services in 2027.