Technologies

Virgin Galactic Reenters Space Tourism Market at $750K Per Ticket

New Delta-class spacecraft promises more seats and more flights — at an even steeper cost than before.

Nearly two years since Virgin Galactic’s last space flight, the company will once again take regular citizens up into space — regular citizens who have an extra $750,000, that is. It began accepting online reservations on Monday, with a price tag substantially higher than the $600,000 it charged for trips in 2023.

The next expeditions will take place aboard the company’s new Delta Class craft, which can hold six passengers (up from four) and can fly twice per week. Virgin Galactic said it will test the new ship this summer and will begin commercial trips in the fall. The first flights will be for research to gather data for how the ship performs, and then passenger flights will begin 6 to 8 weeks after those research expeditions, the company said.

If all goes as planned, the first nonresearch passengers could be flying into space before the end of the year, the company said.

The company will sell 50 tickets at $750,000 each, then pause sales after all are sold. The company will «step our pricing up as we go» when sales resume, CEO Michael Colglazier said during the company’s earnings call earlier this week. He said they have not settled on future ticket prices.

A representative for Virgin Galactic told CNET that the company will not announce how many of those 50 tickets have been sold so far or who the customers are.

Lots of folks are waiting

Virgin Galactic won’t only be taking up new customers to space. There is a backlog of 675 people, who the company calls their «founding astronauts» or «future astronauts» — people who paid deposits as long as a decade ago for future flights. Because they paid years ago, their trip costs will be much lower than those of people buying tickets now.

Future flights could include both new customers and these founding astronauts from that backlog.

Virgin Galactic’s goal, Colglazier said, is to take 10 trips per month by 2027. That would be about 60 passengers per month.

A substantial investment has been made in space tourism, albeit by a handful of companies, since engineer and entrepreneur Dennis Tito became the first «space tourist» in 2001. Virgin Galactic has taken 23 customers into space, Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has flown 98, and Elon Musk’s SpaceX has taken 20. Axiom Space and Space Adventures — the pioneering company that took Tito up — have taken several customers to the International Space Station.

The space tourism market is forecast to grow from $2.3 billion in 2026 to $47 billion by 2034, an annual increase of 45%, «for leisure, exploration, and experiential travel beyond Earth’s atmosphere,» according to research firm Fortune Business Insights.

The Virgin Galactic news comes on the same day that NASA will launch its first human flight to the moon since 1972. Four astronauts — Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover, Christina Koch, and Jeremy Hansen — will fly the Orion spacecraft around the moon, but not land on it, during the 10-day mission. CNET offers live updates and the live stream for the launch.

Virgin Galactic’s last flight was Galactic 07 on June 8, 2024, on the VSS Unity, its first craft. That was the final trip of a 12-flight mission before the company began setting its sights on developing its Delta Class ships for longer customer trips. Multibillionaire Richard Branson, who founded the company in 2004, took his inaugural flight on July 11, 2021.

‘Shockingly thin blue line’

Ron Rosano, from San Rafael, California, fulfilled a lifelong dream with his Virgin Galactic trip in 2023. He recalls his three minutes of weightlessness and the g-forces from the ship’s rocket firing.

Rosano told CNET he remembers «the view of this incredible, miraculous planet floating suspended in the empty black vastness of space, seeing the shockingly thin blue line of our atmosphere on the edge of the planet. Sadly, the idea that we humans are suspended in gravity orbiting the sun on a spaceship, a spaceship Earth, does not sit very much at all in our consciousness.»

Virgin Galactic flights reach as high as 50 miles above Earth’s surface, a distance recognized by both the FAA and USAF as the boundary of outer space. That altitude is below the Kármán Line, the internationally recognized boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space, which is about 62 miles above the Earth.

A carrier aircraft named the VMS Eve (after Branson’s mother) will take off, bring the Delta Class spaceship to about 45,000 feet, and then release it for its journey to space. The spaceship will then return to Earth on its own.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 8, #562

Here are hints and the answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle for April 8 No. 562.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections: Sports Edition is a tough one. If you’re struggling with today’s puzzle but still want to solve it, read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is published by The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by The Times. It doesn’t appear in the NYT Games app, but it does in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can play it for free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Working out.

Green group hint: Cover your face.

Blue group hint: NFL players.

Purple group hint: Leap.

Answers for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Yellow group: Exercises in singular form.

Green group: Sporting jobs that require masks.

Blue group: Hall of Fame defensive ends.

Purple group: ____ jump.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections: Sports Edition answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is exercises in singular form. The four answers are crunch, plank, situp and squat.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is sporting jobs that require masks. The four answers are catcher, fencer, football player and goaltender.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Hall of Fame defensive ends. The four answers are Dent, Peppers, Strahan and Youngblood.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is ____ jump. The four answers are broad, high, long and triple.

Technologies

The $135M Google Data Settlement Site Is Live — See If You’re Eligible

Use the settlement website to select your preferred payment method, and you may end up $100 richer.

You can now file a claim in the $135 million Google data settlement. The case centers on claims that Android devices transmitted user data without consent. Specifically, the class action lawsuit Taylor v. Google LLC contends that Google’s Android devices passively transferred cellular data to Google without user permission, even when the devices were idle. While not admitting fault, Google reached a preliminary settlement in January, agreeing to pay $135 million to about 100 million US Android phone users.

The official settlement website for the lawsuit is now live. The final approval hearing won’t occur until June 23, when the court will consider whether Google’s settlement is fair and listen to objections. After that, the court will decide whether to approve the $135 million settlement.

In the meantime, if you qualify and want to be paid as part of the settlement, you can select your preferred payment method on the official website. There, you can find information on speaking at the June 23 court hearing and on how to exclude yourself or write to the court to object by May 29.

As part of the settlement, Google will update its Google Play terms of service to clarify that certain data transfers do occur passively even when you’re not using your Android device, and that cellular data may be relied upon when not connected to Wi-Fi. This can’t always be disabled, but users will be asked to consent to it when setting up their device.

Google will also fully stop collecting data when its «allow background data usage» option is toggled off.

Who can be part of the settlement?

In order to join the Taylor v. Google LLC settlement, you must meet four qualifications:

Be a living, individual human being in the US.
Have used an Android mobile device with a cellular data plan.
Have used the aforementioned device at any time from Nov. 12, 2017, to the date when the settlement receives final approval.
You’re not a class member in the Csupo v. Google LLC lawsuit, which is similar but specifically for California residents.

The final approval hearing is on June 23, so you can add your payment method until then. The hearing’s date and time may change, and any updates will be posted on the settlement website.

If you choose to do nothing, you will still be issued a settlement payment, but you may not receive it if you don’t select a payment method.

How much will I get paid?

It’s not currently known exactly how much each settlement class member will receive, but the cap is $100. Payments will be distributed after final court approval and after any appeals are resolved.

After all administrative, tax and attorney costs are paid, the settlement administrator will attempt to pay each member an equal amount. If any funds remain after payments are sent, and it’s economically feasible, they will be redistributed to members who were previously and successfully paid. If it’s not economically feasible, the funds will go to an organization approved by the court.

Technologies

Samsung’s Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 Might Come in 5G and 4G Cellular Models

If the rumor proves true, the 5G Galaxy Watch Ultra would rival the 5G-enabled $799 Apple Watch Ultra 3 that debuted last fall.

Samsung’s next high-end Galaxy Watch could support faster 5G speeds, but if this leak is true, it will depend on where you live. The rumored Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra 2 might come in 5G and 4G cellular models, with availability for each smartwatch depending on the country.

According to the Dutch website Galaxy Club (and spotted by SamMobile), Samsung’s servers may have revealed a series of model numbers that point to 5G, 4G and Wi-Fi-enabled editions of the next Galaxy Watch Ultra, which would succeed the original model that debuted in 2024.

A representative for Samsung did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The Galaxy Club website speculates that the 5G edition would be sold in the US and Korean markets, while the 4G edition would sell in the rest of the world. In the US, a 5G version of the Galaxy Watch Ultra would rival the 5G-enabled $799 Apple Watch Ultra 3, which debuted last fall. The 4G edition would have broader compatibility worldwide, since the earlier network is far more established.

It will likely be a few months until we hear anything official about the Galaxy Watch Ultra 2. Samsung typically unveils its new watches in the summer alongside its Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip foldable phones. Last year, Samsung unveiled the Galaxy Watch 8 and the Galaxy Watch 8 Classic, but otherwise left the prior 2024 Ultra in the lineup for those looking for a larger 47mm smartwatch.