BEIJING – Chinese travel group Trip.com has listed a 5.1 million yuan (S$973,000) suborbital space tourism package on its platform, marking a direct effort by Western commercial space operators to tap high-net-worth travellers in China.

The six-day luxury itinerary, which was revealed in mid-September, is offered through HHtravel, Trip.com’s high-end customised tour subsidiary, in partnership with spaceflight company Virgin Galactic, which is headquartered in the United States.

In the package, clients will undergo three days of preflight training at Spaceport America near Las Cruces, New Mexico. On the fifth day, passengers board Virgin Galactic’s air-launched spacecraft for a 90-minute suborbital flight, experiencing several minutes of weightlessness and views of the curvature of the Earth.

The package price covers preflight training, ground transport, luxury accommodation in the US, custom spacesuits and commemorative flight footage. However, travellers must separately purchase round-trip flights to the US, specialised personal spaceflight insurance and their visas.

The listing has generated robust discussion across Chinese social media regarding high-end consumer spending and spaceflight safety, though industry analysts stress the actual addressable market remains extremely restricted.

“The product serves a very niche global segment,” said Wei Changren, founder of tourism financial news platform btiii.com, noting that buyers require exceptional physical health, high risk tolerance and substantial liquid wealth.

Li Xing, a Beijing-based extreme sports enthusiast, said that while the package offers a rare adventure for ordinary citizens without formal astronaut training, the price remains prohibitive for most consumers.

“If I were rich enough, I would register for the trip, but it’s much too expensive for me,” he said.