Space Tourism: Moneyspinner?

Yesterday, I came across the Virgin Galactic website. I had a browse through and found myself on the ‘reservations’ page. I could have booked myself a sub-orbital flight right there and then (if I had a spare $200,000 just sitting there). It brought the fact home to me that private space tourism is really happening. It’s no longer some far-fetched concept. Space Adventures were the first private company to put a man into space. In 2001, Dennis Tito paid them $20 million to spend ten days at the International Space Station. Since then, the company has done very well, putting several civilians into space and succeeding in both orbital and sub-orbital space tourism. Space Adventures plans to invest the money that they make from these tourist flights in order to benefit the ISS as a whole. They believe that re-investment in new launch technology and a new generation of space vehicles will lead to safer and more reliable access to space, improved satellite launches and eventually the development of private space stations and an overall positive impact on the global economy. Space Adventures are not the only ones cashing in. Virgin Galactic have recently announced that their carrier aircraft has completed its maiden flight and they have been taking bookings for their first sub-orbital flight for some time.

But who would actually go to into space? Will these companies have any customers? At the moment, space tourists have to be extremely wealthy but there is an argument that says the price of space travel will fall just as airline ticket prices have. This is obviously a long way off in the future but a study carried out in the United States by Futron Corporation and Zogby in 2006, entitled ‘Sub-orbital Space Tourism Demand Revisited’ shows that there is demand for space tourism today. They found that by 2021 it is possible that just under 14,000 people will be flying into space annually on sub-orbital flights bringing in revenues of US$676 million. The study of wealthy individuals earning at least $1million per annum, found that the average orbital space tourist is 53 and more likely to be male.

The report also found that the wish to travel into space was prompted by a desire to experience something unique and challenging – to be a pioneer. What better way to impress your friends? 54% of those participants asked about suborbital spaceflight said that they would be prepared to pay between US$100,000 and US$250,000 for a seat. The desire to see earth from space was also a major reason given for people’s interest. For some, spaceflight was a lifelong dream, for others it held no interest. Reasons not to travel included expense and the fact that it could be too dangerous.

An incredible amount of investment has been poured into space tourism. EADS Astrium launched a space tourism project in 2007. There are companies that are working on designs for space hotels, for circumlunar missions, and on new rockets and vehicles to get the tourists into space. It’s not pie in the sky anymore and there could potentially be a great amount of money to be made as a result of this initial investment. Air travel was once a rich man’s game. Now it is available to the masses. Why should the same not be true for space travel? It makes sense – man is now looking to space as the next place to be conquered. Yes, it will take time but, as Space Adventures are convinced, with more investment and research carried out into reliable and cheaper access to space this could be a very sustainable business model to take us all forward way, way into the future.

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