BEIJING — On October 23, Chinese startup Deep Blue Aerospace announced that it will begin selling its first two tickets for a 2027 rocket flight to space, with each ticket priced at 1.5 million yuan (approximately S$278,000).

The tickets will go on sale at 6 PM on October 24, and more will be available next month. The flights will be suborbital, meaning the rocket will reach outer space but will not achieve orbit.

The commercial spaceflight industry is still in its early stages, with US companies like Blue Origin and SpaceX currently leading the way.

Deep Blue Aerospace emphasized the importance of reusable rockets in lowering the high launch costs that hinder the large-scale commercialization of space tourism. The company aims to retrieve a carrier rocket from orbit by the first quarter of 2025.

Other Chinese firms have also revealed their intentions to enter the space tourism market. In May, the state-backed CAS Space announced plans to initiate space tourism flights by 2028.