Jenam 2011In April 2022, the Axiom 1 (Ax-1) mission launched, taking its first paying visitors to the ISS aboard the SpaceX Dragon Resilience at an estimated cost of at least $55 million per person (via Quartz). Musk said in 2016 the cost to launch a Falcon 9 rocket was $62 million, but in 2020 SpaceX Director of Vehicle Integration Christopher Couluris said the company was successful reduce launch cost to around $28 million by reusing Falcon 9 rockets (via CNBC). That said, the cost of each trip will likely be based on the client’s needs.
CNBC reported in 2020 that the Air Force awarded SpaceX a contract worth about $95 million per launch because its missions required certain safety precautions based on national security. By comparison, Virgin Galactic charges $450,000 (with a $150,000 down payment) for a 90-minute sub-orbital trip, according to Tech Crunch. After Isaacman’s Inspiration4 flight, Musk said space travel will initially be “very expensive”, but over time it will decrease, making space more accessible to everyone. That time probably won’t be in our near future, but with humanity’s passionate desire to become space cowboys, the time will eventually come.
