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$335k or $37m: The REAL cost of going to space

Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson
Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson will soon have all travelled to space (Source: AAP/Getty)

Elon Musk will soon be going to space as well but not on his own spacecraft.

Musk has paid a US$10,000 (A$13,000) deposit to secure a seat on a future Virgin Galactic trip, Sir Richard Branson told The Sunday Times.

A ticket for a one-hour space flight with Virgin Galactic costs US$250,000 or A$335,000 and includes training and your very own space suit.

“Elon’s a friend and maybe I’ll travel on one of his ships one day,” Branson said.

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Other big names like Justin Beiber and Lady Gaga have also put down deposits to fly on Virgin Galactic. The company is aiming to begin flying tourists to space in 2022.

But one ultra wealthy person who just couldn't wait until next year has purchased a ticket on Jeff Bezos’ first human flight on Blue Origin for US$28 million, which is the equivalent of A$37.6 million .

The buyer has not yet been revealed but should be announced soon, prior to the flight.

Bezos was auctioning off the final seat on the flight which was very popular. Nearly 7,600 people registered to bid from 159 countries.

The winning bid amount will be donated to Blue Origin’s foundation, Club for the Future, whose mission is to inspire future generations to pursue careers in STEM and to help invent the future of life in space, the Blue Origin website said.

Bezos, along with his brother, Wally Funk and crew, will launch themselves into space on July 20.

Billionaire space race

Branson beat Bezos and Musk to be the first billionaire to travel to space when his flight launched last week.

“I have dreamt about this moment since I was a child, but nothing could have prepared me for the view of Earth from space,” Branson said.

“We are at the vanguard of a new space age. As Virgin’s founder, I was honoured to test the incredible customer experience as part of this remarkable crew of mission specialists and now astronauts. I can’t wait to share this experience with aspiring astronauts around the world.”

Musk has been focussing his efforts on making space travel more affordable with the invention of reusable rockets.

While Bezos and Branson had been vying to be the first passenger-ready space companies working to commercialise space travel.

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