China: First Tourists Will Be Able to Fly into Space in 2027

To cut costs on space tourism, Chinese companies intend to bet on reusable rockets

China, which is developing its aerospace industry by leaps and bounds, is ready to break the monopoly of Russia and the USA in the promising and extremely profitable “space tourism” sector.

Chinese startup Deep Blue Aerospace has opened ticket sales for its space journey, which will take place starting in 2027. The first two tickets go on sale Thursday, October 24, priced at $211,000. The Chinese company announced that tickets for future space flights “will be available next month.”

According to a Deep Blue Aerospace spokesperson, “space tourists will be transported into so-called ‘outer space’ aboard a rocket that will reach weightless altitudes without going into orbit.”

To reduce the “exorbitant” costs of space tourism, so far only available to the very rich, China’s Deep Blue Aerospace intends to use reusable launch vehicles for “tourist” flights: the first of these rockets will be tested and is expected to be recovered in the first quarter of 2025.

Many Chinese aerospace companies have announced plans to send tourists to “near space”: state-funded Cas Space (pictured) has said it will begin tourist space flights by 2028.