Actor and investor Ashton Kutcher revealed that he bought a ticket to go to space on one of Virgin Galactic’s next flights — but then sold the ticket back to the company at the behest of his wife, Mila Kunis.
“When I got married and had kids, my wife basically encouraged that it was not a smart family decision to be heading into space when we have young children, so I ended up selling my ticket back to Virgin Galactic,” Kutcher told Cheddar News in an interview Wednesday. “I was supposed to be on the next flight, but I will not be on the next flight.”
Virgin Galactic successfully flew its co-founder Sir Richard Branson and team members Sirisha Bandla, Beth Moses and Colin Bennett as well as pilots Dave Mackay and Michael Masucci to the edge of space last week on the company’s first crewed flight.
The company plans to conduct one more test flight before it starts flying commercial trips.
More than 600 people have reserved tickets for the company’s space flights so far, ranging in price from $200,000 to $250,000.
The company is expected to open more tickets up for sale soon.
“I will not be on the next flight, but at some point, I’m going to space,” Kutcher added in the interview.
Kutcher’s announcement comes at a critical moment in space tourism, as both Virgin Galactic and the Jeff Bezos-owned Blue Origin prepare to launch commercial operations for the public in the coming months.
Blue Origin is preparing to launch Bezos as well as the company’s first paying customer into space on Tuesday.
Blue Origin has yet to open ticket sales to the public or disclose its anticipated prices. That’s expected following the company’s maiden crewed voyage.