• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard

1

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic

2

‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion

3

Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard
TechVirgin Galactic
Europe

Billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic saw a 400% jump in revenue, thanks to its space flights and ‘membership fees’ for astronauts-to-be

Prarthana Prakash
By
Prarthana Prakash
Prarthana Prakash
Europe Business News Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
Prarthana Prakash
By
Prarthana Prakash
Prarthana Prakash
Europe Business News Reporter
Down Arrow Button Icon
August 2, 2023, 6:52 AM ET
A picture of Richard Branson on a phone screen against Virgin Galactic's logo
The space tourism company founded by British business magnate Richard Branson saw revenues surge in the second quarter of 2023.Pavlo Gonchar—SOPA Images/LightRocket/Getty Images
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Space travel company Virgin Galactic’s revenues have skyrocketed along with its first commercial space flights.

Recommended Video

The company founded by billionaire British mogul Richard Branson saw sales swell in the second quarter following the successes of its final test flight and first full-fledged commercial space mission. 

For the April to June period, Virgin Galactic brought in revenue of $1.9 million, up 432% from $357,000 during the same period last year.

The company attributed the surge in revenue to the new commercial spaceflights and to “future astronaut membership fees.” Virgin Galactic didn’t clarify what those fees entail and how they would be applied to its upcoming missions.

“During the quarter, we successfully completed two spaceflights in two months, including the launch of commercial service in late June with a scientific research mission,” Michael Colglazier, CEO of Virgin Galactic, said in a statement Tuesday. “Our financial position remains strong, and we remain focused on scaling the business.” 

Still losing money

Despite increasing revenues, the space tourism company continued to post astronomical losses. Its net loss stood at $134 million for the quarter, up from $111 million for the same period in 2022, due to “an increase in research and development expenses related to the development of the future fleet.”

The success of Virgin Galactic’s June space flight was a milestone for the company to bring its service to market, allowing more people to fly to space. The mission included a group of Italian researchers, who wore special suits to collect data on how their bodies react while in space. 

Virgin Galactic has another private mission launching next week, and expects to achieve the rough benchmark of $1 million in each of the remaining two quarters of 2023. 

Since it was founded in 2004, Virgin Galactic has worked toward making space tourism a reality where people can buy tickets to be on one of its weekly or monthly spacecrafts. In 2021, the Orange County, Calif.–based company received federal approval to fly people to space.

As of June, Virgin Galactic had sold about 800 tickets for its commercial flights—600 of them before 2014, for between $200,000 to $250,000 each, and 200 of them since then for $450,000 each, according to Al Jazeera. A number of A-list celebrities were among the initial group that bought tickets to eventual space missions, including Leonardo DiCaprio and Lady Gaga. 

Virgin Galactic did not immediately return Fortune’s request for comment.

The space tourism boom

Many companies have in recent times been vying for the lucrative space tourism market, including Tesla chief Elon Musk’s SpaceX and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin. Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin even had neck-to-neck test flights in 2021 with their founders aboard—Branson wound up beating Bezos on a brief space trip. 

Despite the fascination of space tourism, there has also been an element of fear associated with adventure tours following the debacle with OceanGate, which saw its Titanic-bound submersible explode in June following safety lapses.

The parallels between commercial space travel and deep-sea exploration aren’t for nothing—they often boast wealthy customers who can afford the high ticket price and require meeting high safety standards. One of OceanGate’s passengers who lost his life on the submersible, Hamish Harding, was also a passenger on one of Blue Origin’s missions last year. 

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have had a few of their own catastrophes, but both companies have emphasized the importance of safety protocols and have had many successful missions with no casualties. The Federal Aviation Administration, a U.S. government body, is also working on devising a safety framework for commercial space flights.

About the Author
Prarthana Prakash
By Prarthana PrakashEurope Business News Reporter
LinkedIn icon

Prarthana Prakash was a Europe business reporter at Fortune.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
AISports
LaLiga president says tech is already making the fan experience better, and it could solve football’s money problem too
By Catherina GioinoJuly 20, 2026
2 hours ago
A 13-year-old teenage boy looks at an iPhone screen displaying various social media apps.
PoliticsSocial Media
French President Macron backs effort to ban kids under 15 from social media before departing office next year
By The Associated Press and Samuel PetrequinJuly 20, 2026
3 hours ago
Photo of Hugging Face cofounder and CEO Clement Delangue.
CybersecurityAI agents
Hugging Face says it resorted to a Chinese AI model to battle a fully autonomous cyberattack because U.S. model guardrails stymied its defense
By Emily ForliniJuly 20, 2026
3 hours ago
Sumeet Agrawal is VP of Product Management (Data, AI Governance & Context Engineering for Agentic Systems) at Salesforce.
CommentaryAI agents
Salesforce VP on the leaky AI pipeline: why cheaper tokens won’t fix enterprise AI
By Sumeet AgrawalJuly 20, 2026
8 hours ago
Artificial Intelligence technology and futuristic technology transformation
C-SuiteCFO Daily
How CFOs can tell if AI is actually creating value
By Sheryl EstradaJuly 20, 2026
9 hours ago
uk
PoliticsSocial Media
France wants to ban social media for kids — but Brussels says the bill breaks EU law
By Samuel Petrequin and The Associated PressJuly 20, 2026
9 hours ago

Most Popular

'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
AI
'Dr. Doom' Nouriel Roubini says we're headed for universal basic income or 'some form of socialism' as AI revolutionizes work—He calls that optimistic
By Jason MaJuly 18, 2026
2 days ago
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
Success
‘I want to die broke’: Billionaire philanthropist Denny Sanford dies after giving away $4 billion
By Sydney LakeJuly 20, 2026
9 hours ago
Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard
AI
Power companies are using eminent domain to seize land for data centers as 70% of Americans say not in my backyard
By Aaron Walayat and The ConversationJuly 19, 2026
2 days ago
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
Success
Mark Cuban says he has the solution to growing income inequality, and it's to reward every employee—from CEO to janitor—with company stock
By Sasha RogelbergJuly 20, 2026
5 hours ago
Red Lobster’s 37-year-old CEO waited tables before joining the C-suite—he says it was a crash course in managing ‘difficult people and situations’
Success
Red Lobster’s 37-year-old CEO waited tables before joining the C-suite—he says it was a crash course in managing ‘difficult people and situations’
By Preston ForeJuly 19, 2026
2 days ago
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
Future of Work
Warren Buffett says his $147 billion investing career was an accident: ‘I may be one of the 10 luckiest in the world’
By Sarah GlodekJuly 20, 2026
15 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.