Virgin Galactic Pushes Commercial Return to February 2027 as Blue Origin’s Tourism Program Stays Paused

Virgin Galactic told investors on its August 12 earnings call that its return to commercial spaceflight has slipped again, from a late-2026 target to February 2027. CEO Michael Colglazier said the delay stems from a long list of smaller technical issues rather than any single failed component on the new Delta-class spacecraft.

The Delta spacecraft is designed to require less maintenance between flights and to carry six paying passengers per trip, more than the company’s retired VSS Unity vehicle. Virgin says its next batch of $750,000 seats sold out despite the repeated schedule slips, suggesting demand from wealthy would-be astronauts remains intact.

Blue Origin, meanwhile, completed its final New Shepard suborbital tourism flight in January 2026 and then paused the program entirely for at least two years, redirecting resources toward its lunar lander and New Glenn orbital rocket programs. That leaves Virgin Galactic as the only major U.S. operator still actively pursuing paying space tourists.

With both leading suborbital operators either paused or delayed, industry watchers say 2026 has turned into a quiet year for space tourism after several years of high-profile flights. Prospective customers face wait times stretching well into 2027 regardless of which company they book with.

Sources: SpaceDaily, Yahoo News