China's First Commercial Suborbital Spaceflight Tickets Sold Out Instantly at 1 Million RMB Each

On the evening of October 24th, 2022, Deep Blue Aerospace, a Chinese commercial space company, held a livestream sale on Taobao to pre-sell tickets for China’s first crewed suborbital spaceflights planned for 2027. The company offered two tickets at a discounted price of 1 million RMB each (originally priced at 1.5 million RMB), and they sold out almost instantly after going on sale at 6pm.

According to Deep Blue Aerospace CEO Huo Liang, the two ticket buyers will accompany him on the suborbital flights in 2027. The flights will take off from the company’s spaceport in Ejin Banner, Inner Mongolia.

The suborbital flights will use Deep Blue’s “Nebula-1” rocket an crewed capsule. The capsule, measuring 4 meters tall and 3.5 meters in diameter, can carry up to 6 passengers or a payload of no less than 1 ton.

During the approximately 12-minute suborbital flight, the capsule will cross the Karman line at an altitude of 100 km and provide passengers with a weightless environment for no less than 5 minutes. Passengers will be able to experience weightlessness and view the Earth from this high altitude vantage point before the capsule makes a parachute-assisted landing back on the ground.

Deep Blue Aerospace emphasized that safety and reliability are top priorities. The company plans to conduct dozens of flight tests with the integrated rocket-capsule system in 2026 to verify its safety and reliability before beginning commercial suborbital tourism flights in 2027.

CEO Huo Liang told media that as reusable rocket technology matures and sees more use, ticket prices could potentially drop to the hundreds of thousands of RMB in the near future, making suborbital tourism more accessible.

Deep Blue Aerospace isn’t the only Chinese company aiming to provide commercial suborbital spaceflights. Other companies including CAS Space, Galactic Energy, and Space Transportation have also announced plans to develop suborbital tourism vehicles, with most setting target dates in the 2027-2028 timeframe to begin flight operations.

China has stated that over the next five years, it intends to boost the transfer and commercialization of space technology to cultivate new space-related industries like space tourism and in-space research services. This will help grow the size and output of the country’s space sector.

However, despite growing excitement and company announcements, the nascent Chinese commercial suborbital tourism industry still faces many challenges ahead in terms of technology development, safety verification, regulatory approvals, securing sufficient funding and expertise, and gauging true market demand and consumer interest levels. Time will tell which companies can successfully navigate these obstacles.

The rapid sellout of Deep Blue’s first tickets, even at a price of 1 million RMB each, provides an early indication that there is enthusiasm and willingness to pay among at least some wealthy customers for the unique experience of viewing the Earth from space, even if only for a few minutes. But making this experience more affordable, accessible and appealing to a broader customer base will be key to the industry’s long-term growth and viability in China.