Mirror Review
June 30, 2025
Not long ago, going to space was something only astronauts could do. Now, thanks to a few billionaire-led companies, the common man is getting a taste of the cosmos, too!
The race to turn this sci-fi dream into a commercial reality is growing, with Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic competing for supremacy.
But as these billionaire-backed ventures launch into the future, who is truly leading the charge in the era of space tourism?
The answer isn’t as simple as just counting flights.
The New Space Race: What’s the Pace and What’s the Purpose?
Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin has launched its third crewed mission in three months, sending 6 astronauts on its 13th human spaceflight. Each mission lasts about 10 minutes, just enough time to cross the Kármán line (the edge of space), experience weightlessness, and come back.
This consistency of activity directly challenges its main rival in the suborbital tourism space, Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX, however, offers the full astronaut experience—days orbiting the planet.
Launch Frequency: Consistency vs. Hibernation
Blue Origin is back on track after a two-year pause. Its latest launch on June 29, 2025, marked their 33rd flight for the New Shepard program, having sent 74 people to the cosmos so far.
Virgin Galactic, on the other hand, is taking a break. After its final commercial flight of its VSS Unity spaceplane in June 2024, it entered a period of hibernation. The company has paused flights to focus on developing its next-generation “Delta Class” ships, which are not expected to begin commercial service until 2026.
Prior to this pause, Virgin Galactic had conducted a total of 7 “Galactic” commercial space tourism flights with paying customers, and 11 sub-orbital space flights overall carrying passengers and crew.
Meanwhile, SpaceX operates on another level. While its primary focus isn’t tourism, it launches rockets at a crazy pace, often multiple times a week.
Its crewed tourist missions, like the Inspiration4 all-civilian flight in 2021, and commercial astronaut missions such as Ax-1, Ax-2, and Ax-3 to the ISS, and the Polaris Dawn mission, are less frequent but far more complex, because of its broader operational capacity.
Ticket Cost and Accessibility: The Price of a Heavenly View
The cost of a ticket reveals the different experiences being sold.
| Company | Vehicle | Experience | Ticket Price |
| Blue Origin | New Shepard | 11-minute flight to the Kármán line | Not officially disclosed, but estimated in the hundreds of thousands of dollars. |
| Virgin Galactic | VSS Unity (retired) | 90-minute flight, runway takeoff | Was priced at $450,000. Future Delta class tickets are expected to be higher. |
| SpaceX | Crew Dragon | Multi-day orbital mission | Estimated at over $55 million per seat for missions to the ISS. |
Tech and Vehicle Differences: Rockets vs. Spaceplanes
Each company uses a very different approach to get people into space — and that changes what passengers actually experience.
- Blue Origin’s New Shepard:
This is a classic rocket-and-capsule setup. The rocket launches straight up, carrying a capsule with big windows and fully automated controls. After about 10 minutes, the capsule floats back down under parachutes, while the booster lands itself upright for reuse. It’s fast, smooth, and mostly hands-off.
- Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity:
This one’s more like a spaceplane. It’s carried up into the sky by a larger aircraft, then released to fire its own rocket and climb to the edge of space. After a short weightless moment, it glides back down like a regular plane, landing on a runway. It’s gentler, but less powerful.
- SpaceX’s Crew Dragon:
A state-of-the-art capsule launched atop the reusable Falcon 9 rocket. It’s designed for long-duration orbital flights and docking with the International Space Station. It also features advanced life support and navigation systems.
The Long-Term Vision of Blue Origin and Its Rivals
Here’s where these companies really start to go their separate ways.
Virgin Galactic’s goal has been straightforward: to create a profitable space tourism business offering suborbital “joyrides.”
SpaceX’s ambition is famously interplanetary. Elon Musk’s ultimate goal is to make humanity a multi-planetary species by colonizing Mars.
Tourism, for SpaceX, is more of a side business and a way to demonstrate the reliability of its technology.
Blue Origin’s vision, as stated by founder Jeff Bezos, is to build “a road to space for the benefit of Earth.”
His long-term goal is to see millions of people living and working in space to preserve our home planet. This includes developing the massive, reusable New Glenn orbital rocket and future commercial space stations.
The current suborbital flights are a way to practice and perfect operations for these bigger ambitions. As Bezos has said, “It’s this generation’s job to build a road to space so that future generations can unleash their creativity.”
Who is Winning the Space Tourism Race?
If the race is about getting the most people to the edge of space quickly and affordably, Blue Origin is winning with its recent launch acceleration.
If it’s about providing the most “real”, life-altering astronautical experience, SpaceX is the undisputed leader, but it comes at a price that only a few can afford.
Virgin Galactic created much of the initial excitement for space tourism but now finds itself in a crucial development phase, needing to deliver on its next-generation fleet to stay relevant.
In the end, Space Tourism is not a one-finish-line race. Some are running sprints. Others are training for marathons!
