BEIJING, Oct 24, 2024 (BSS/AFP) - A Chinese company will launch sales on Thursday of two tickets for a commercial spaceflight planned for 2027.

The tickets sold by firm Deep Blue Aerospace cost 1.5 million yuan ($211,000) and are for seats on a suborbital flight in which passengers will experience five minutes of zero gravity.

They go on sale at 6:00 pm local time (1000 GMT) Thursday during a livestream shopping event hosted by the company's founder Huo Liang, Deep Blue announced via their WeChat account this week.

Customers must pay a 50,000 yuan deposit to secure the tickets.

Deep Blue Aerospace is a leader in China's burgeoning commercial space sector, which Beijing is hoping will catch up to rivals such as Elon Musk's SpaceX.

China made 26 commercial launches in 2023, according to state media, including LandSpace's Zhuque-2 rocket, the world's first methane-fuelled rocket.

Deep Blue Aerospace said it plans to develop reusable rocket technology to reduce costs.

The mission in 2027 will be suborbital, meaning passengers will reach space but not go into orbit.

It will be in space for around 12 minutes, the company said.

Multiple companies have entered China's commercial space industry in recent years.

In May, CAS Space announced it would launch space tourism flights in China in 2028.

Beijing has an ambitious official space programme of its own, planning a crewed mission to the Moon by 2030 and eventually to build a base there.