Aug 5 (Reuters) - Spaceship company Virgin Galactic (SPCE.N) said it will open ticket sales on Thursday for space flights starting at $450,000 a seat, weeks after billionaire founder Richard Branson"s high-profile trip to the edge of space. Branson soared more than 50 miles above the New Mexico desert aboard a Virgin Galactic rocket plane on July 11 and safely returned in the vehicle"s first fully crewed test flight to space, a symbolic milestone for a venture he started 17 years ago. read more Shares of the company rose 5% in extended trading on Thursday. In June, Virgin Galactic received approval from the U.S. aviation safety regulator to fly people to space. The company said it will have three consumer offerings - a single seat, a multi-seat package and a full-flight buy out. Sales will initially open to the company"s significant list of "early hand-raisers", it said.