Whether you’re worried about climate change and expanding human consumption or you just want to float around in zero gravity, the fact that Virgin Galactic in planning commercial space flights in the near future is pretty darned exciting.

Just a while back, Virgin posted a job opening on their website looking for “pilot-astronauts” capable of flying the commercial space shuttles. That made the whole prospect pretty real, but it just got even real-er: Virgin has announced the official price of a space flight.

If you’re interested, you’d better break open your piggy bank: it’ll cost passengers $200,000 for a flight. Yes, it’s expensive, but Virgin Galactic is first in the market, and any start-up has to cover costs. On the plus side, Virgin Galactic VP Will Pomerantz predicts that the prices will drop as the business expands and Virgin Galactic sees more customers. Makes sense.

Of course, if you’re sitting there with a briefcase full of $200,000 in cash, ready to hop on a space shuttle, you’re still going to have to wait. Test flights are still being conducted right now, so civilians like us won’t be able to take a space flight until at least 2013.

Currently, about 400 people have made deposits to fly on one of Virgin Galactic’s first sub-orbital space flights. How about it, rich folks? Any of you planning on taking a trip to space?