Space Tourism

The era of Space Tourism began om April 28, 2001 when Denis Tito was launched into space in a Russian Soyuz capsule. Tito, a multi-millionaire reputed to have paid $20 million for the trip, proved that traveling beyond Earth's gravity was not just the province of a select few, but that anyone with drive, determination - and at that point in history, a lot of money - could become an astronaut.

Since then, other tourists have journeyed to the International Space Station. But they remain a select few with huge disposable incomes to fund their dream of spaceflight.

All that began to change on June 21st, 2004. For some years before that, the X-Prize Foundation had challenged aeronautical engineers and companies to desing a resuable craft that could ferry paying passengers to space. SpaceShip One took the prize that June day in 2004 and the possibilies for ordinary Joes to get into space became a lot more realistic.

Other companies had competed but, perhaps suprisingly, none ever launched their own craft into space following SpaceShip One's success. At the time, everybody seemed gung-ho about their variations on reusable craft. Either they were over enthusiastic, overestimated their own capabilities or, beacuse the Prize had been won, decided to continue development out of the spotlight or drop our entirely.

But things have not been stagnant in the three years since the X-Prize was won. Richard Branson went into business with the makers of SpaceShip One (Burt Rutan and co.) in the hopes of launching a venture that would be accessible to a huge number of people interested in taking a trip to space.

No long after, Virgin Galactic was announced to the world, along with the development of SpaceShip Two, which would carry six people to the edgo of space in a sub-orbital flight. The going rate for a seat is $100, 000 and, while not cheap, is within the means of a lareg number of people. SpaceShip Two is scheduled to launch in 2009. And then the Space Tourism revolution really will begin.

Space Tourism

Space tourism industry gets legal insurance with informed consent ruling - Ge... 11 Mar 2010 at 10:19am  New York Times (blog) Space tourism industry gets legal insurance with informed consent ruling Geek.com Space tourism can't really go anywhere until this is settled? and it looks like it has been. Operators like Virgin Galactic have won a legal reprieve ... New Law Allows Space Tourism Companies to Develop It was signed into effect in ...Softpedia Virgin Galactic Lands Legal Protection Against Space TouristsGearlog (blog) For Sh15m, you can blast off to space with Virgin GalacticBusiness Daily Africa all 7 news articles » Read more... Obama's NASA Plan Draws Furious Fire; The Prez Promises to Defend His Vision ... 10 Mar 2010 at 1:15pm  MiamiHerald.com Obama's NASA Plan Draws Furious Fire; The Prez Promises to Defend His Vision Discover Magazine (blog) We're not doing anything up there that can't be done on robots, so it's basically space tourism for scientists and construction work for PhDs . ... Space summit announced at tricky time for NASACTV.ca Space Workers Eager To Hear More About Obama's SummitCentral Florida News 13 all 790 news articles » Read more... Space Tourism's Future Is Bright as Seats on Branson's Virgin Galactic ... - ... 5 Mar 2010 at 1:18pm  Reuters Space Tourism's Future Is Bright as Seats on Branson's Virgin Galactic ... Examiner.com To get the broad public as excited about space travel as it was in the 1950s and 1960s, space tourist companies plan to extend their services to the larger ... Virgin Galactic spaceship to undergo flight testsCTV.ca Virgin Galactic Sees Space Test Flights in 2011ABC News 20 Gulf tourists signed up for Virgin's space flightArabianBusiness.com Atlantic Online -IndyPosted (blog) -Maktoob Business all 152 news articles » Read more... Russia Will End Space Tourism Flights When Shuttle Retires - Popular Science 4 Mar 2010 at 1:03pm  UPI.com Russia Will End Space Tourism Flights When Shuttle Retires Popular Science Well, it looks like Charles Simonyi might have to wait a while for a third trip, because space tourism ... Russia To Halt Space ToursRedOrbit A space idiocyTampa Tribune Bolden: There is No "Plan B" In DevelopmentUniverse Today all 152 news articles » Read more... Dubai Conference Seeks Investors in Space Tourism - ABC News 4 Mar 2010 at 10:17am  ABC News Dubai Conference Seeks Investors in Space Tourism ABC News The consensus, said the forum organizers, is that space travel could be viable within the next two to three years. "Space tourism is coming," said ... and more » Read more... Burt Rutan Explains Why Space Tourism Matters - MIT Technology Review (blog) 3 Mar 2010 at 7:45pm  Burt Rutan Explains Why Space Tourism Matters MIT Technology Review (blog) ... January 2008--a month before he had open heart surgery) also believes that space tourism will produce innovations that cannot be predicted in advance, ... The Strange Phase of Space TravelBig Think Burt Rutan Talks about His Vision of $475 Space Vacations in a Big Think Video ...Next Big Future (blog) On the Horizon: Space Flights for $475Newser all 4 news articles » Read more... Shuttle shut-down ends space tourism - Scotsman 3 Mar 2010 at 4:02pm  Shuttle shut-down ends space tourism Scotsman RUSSIA announced a halt to space tourism yesterday, as it will need more capacity to send crews to the International Space Station when the United States ... Read more... Russia halts space tours as US retires Shuttle - Reuters 3 Mar 2010 at 9:20am  Reuters Russia halts space tours as US retires Shuttle Reuters STAR CITY, Russia (Reuters) - Russia announced a halt to space tourism on Wednesday, saying it would struggle to ferry professional crews to the ... and more » Read more... FAA and NASA join efforts for space tourism - FederalNewsRadio.com 26 Feb 2010 at 4:33am  FAA and NASA join efforts for space tourism FederalNewsRadio.com FAA and NASA join efforts for space tourism The 2011 budget request for NASA has the agency using commercial space launch companies taking astronauts to the ... and more » Read more... Virgin Galactic unveils commercial spaceship 7 Dec 2009 at 12:58am  The sleek, bullet-shaped spacecraft is about the size of a large business jet — with wide windows and seats for six well-heeled passengers to take a thrill ride into space. Read more...