Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, the smallish company planning to take tourists into suborbital space, has just inaugurated a new two-tiered reservations system for adventurers interested in purchasing a ticket. It is the next step in the company’s transition from a flight-test organization to a commercial space outfit.

Future astronaut reservations have surged since two successful test flights last year, one of which took VG’s first civilian, Beth Moses, into space. Also helping the surge was the listing of the company, SPCE, on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares have more than doubled since the IPO last fall. Finally, the recent relocation of VG’s spacecraft VSS Unity – from Mojave to Spaceport America in New Mexico – signals that scheduled commercial service may start soon.

One Small Step: The many thousands who have already registered interest in booking a spaceflight online, and who are serious about reserving a seat, will be asked to confirm that intent by completing an online registration form and ponying up a refundable fee of $1,000. This will help identify who, when new seats are released, should first be contacted. One Small Step is not a reservation in its own right, and those who sign up will not become an official part of VG’s future astronaut community. For that, the company says the prospective flyers will be required to take the next step, One Giant Leap.

One Giant Leap: As soon new seats are released, they will be offered first to those who have taken One Small Step. Although a new pricing structure has not yet been announced, the final flight cost will be in excess of the current ticket price of $250,000. Those who decide to take One Giant Leap will sign a similar set of terms and conditions to those already signed by current ticket-holders and have paid the relevant deposits. Once they do this, they will become fully fledged members of the future astronaut community, now in excess of 600 people.