Space tourism
Encyclopedia
Space Tourism is space travel
Human spaceflight
Human spaceflight is spaceflight with humans on the spacecraft. When a spacecraft is manned, it can be piloted directly, as opposed to machine or robotic space probes and remotely-controlled satellites....

 for recreation
Recreation
Recreation is an activity of leisure, leisure being discretionary time. The "need to do something for recreation" is an essential element of human biology and psychology. Recreational activities are often done for enjoyment, amusement, or pleasure and are considered to be "fun"...

al, leisure
Leisure
Leisure, or free time, is time spent away from business, work, and domestic chores. It is also the periods of time before or after necessary activities such as eating, sleeping and, where it is compulsory, education....

 or business
Business
A business is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalist economies, where most of them are privately owned and administered to earn profit to increase the wealth of their owners. Businesses may also be not-for-profit...

 purposes. A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry. Orbital space tourism opportunities have been limited and expensive, with only the Russian Space Agency providing transport to date.

The publicized price for flights brokered by Space Adventures
Space Adventures
Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...

 to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft have been US$ 20–35 million, during the period 2001-2009. Some of space tourists have signed contracts with third parties to conduct certain research activities while in orbit.

Russia halted orbital space tourism in 2010 due to the increase in the International Space Station crew size, using the seats for expedition crews that would be sold to paying spaceflight participants. However, tourist flights are tentatively planned to resume in 2013, when the number of single-use three-person Soyuz launches could rise to five a year.

As an alternative term to "tourism", some organizations such as the Commercial Spaceflight Federation
Commercial Spaceflight Federation
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is a private spaceflight industry group, incorporated as an industry association for the purposes of establishing ever higher levels of safety for the commercial human spaceflight industry, sharing best practices and expertise, and promoting the growth of the...

 use the term "personal spaceflight."

Early dreams

After early successes in space, much of the public saw intensive space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....

 as inevitable. Those aspirations are remembered in science fiction such as Arthur C. Clarke's A Fall of Moondust and 2001: A Space Odyssey, Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl
Roald Dahl was a British novelist, short story writer, fighter pilot and screenwriter.Born in Wales to Norwegian parents, he served in the Royal Air Force during the Second World War, in which he became a flying ace and intelligence agent, rising to the rank of Wing Commander...

's Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator
Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator is a children's book by British author Roald Dahl. It is the sequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, continuing the story of young Charlie Bucket and eccentric candymaker Willy Wonka as they travel in the Great Glass Elevator.Charlie and the Great Glass...

, Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ
Joanna Russ was an American writer, academic and feminist. She is the author of a number of works of science fiction, fantasy and feminist literary criticism such as How to Suppress Women's Writing, as well as a contemporary novel, On Strike Against God, and one children's book, Kittatinny...

's 1968 novel Picnic on Paradise, and Larry Niven
Larry Niven
Laurence van Cott Niven / ˈlæri ˈnɪvən/ is an American science fiction author. His best-known work is Ringworld , which received Hugo, Locus, Ditmar, and Nebula awards. His work is primarily hard science fiction, using big science concepts and theoretical physics...

's Known Space
Known Space
Known Space is the fictional setting of some dozen science fiction novels and several collections of short stories written by author Larry Niven. It has also in part been used as a shared universe in the Man-Kzin Wars spin-off anthologies sub-series....

 stories. Lucian
Lucian
Lucian of Samosata was a rhetorician and satirist who wrote in the Greek language. He is noted for his witty and scoffing nature.His ethnicity is disputed and is attributed as Assyrian according to Frye and Parpola, and Syrian according to Joseph....

 in the 2nd century AD in his book True History
True History
True History or True Story is a travel tale by the Greek-speaking Syrian author Lucian of Samosata, the earliest known fiction about travelling to outer space, alien life-forms and interplanetary warfare. Written in the 2nd century, the novel has been referred to as "the first known text that...

examines the idea of a crew of men whose ship travels to the Moon
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

 during a storm. Jules Verne
Jules Verne
Jules Gabriel Verne was a French author who pioneered the science fiction genre. He is best known for his novels Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea , A Journey to the Center of the Earth , and Around the World in Eighty Days...

 also took up the theme of lunar visits in his books, From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon is a humorous science fantasy novel by Jules Verne and is one of the earliest entries in that genre. It tells the story of the president of a post-American Civil War gun club in Baltimore, his rival, a Philadelphia maker of armor, and a Frenchman, who build an enormous...

and Around the Moon
Around the Moon
Around the Moon , Jules Verne's sequel to From the Earth to the Moon, is a science fiction novel continuing the trip to the moon which left the reader in suspense after the previous novel...

. Robert A. Heinlein’s short story The Menace from Earth
The Menace From Earth
"The Menace From Earth" is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein, first published in 1957.-Plot summary:The "menace" of the title is a beautiful woman tourist who visits the Moon colony and is assigned a young guide named Holly, a 15 year old girl and aspiring starship designer who is...

, published in 1957, was one of the first to incorporate elements of a developed space tourism industry within its framework. During the 1960s and 1970s, it was common belief that space hotels would be launched by 2000. Many futurologists around the middle of the 20th century speculated that the average family of the early 21st century would be able to enjoy a holiday on the Moon. In the 1960s, Pan Am established a waiting list for future flights to the Moon, issuing free "First Moon Flights Club" membership cards to those who requested them.

The end of the Space Race
Space Race
The Space Race was a mid-to-late 20th century competition between the Soviet Union and the United States for supremacy in space exploration. Between 1957 and 1975, Cold War rivalry between the two nations focused on attaining firsts in space exploration, which were seen as necessary for national...

, culminating in the Moon landings
Project Apollo
The Apollo program was the spaceflight effort carried out by the United States' National Aeronautics and Space Administration , that landed the first humans on Earth's Moon. Conceived during the Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Apollo began in earnest after President John F...

, decreased the emphasis placed on space exploration by national governments and therefore led to decreased demands for public funding of manned space flights.

Precursors

The Soviet space program was aggressive in broadening the pool of cosmonauts. The Soviet Intercosmos
Interkosmos
Interkosmos was a space program of the Soviet Union designed to include members of military forces of allied Warsaw Pact countries in manned and unmanned missions...

 program included cosmonauts selected from Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...

 members (from Czechoslovakia, Poland, East Germany, Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania) and later from allies of the USSR
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 (Cuba, Mongolia, Vietnam) and non-aligned
Non-Aligned Movement
The Non-Aligned Movement is a group of states considering themselves not aligned formally with or against any major power bloc. As of 2011, the movement had 120 members and 17 observer countries...

 countries (India, Syria, Afghanistan). Most of these cosmonauts received full training for their missions and were treated as equals, but especially after the Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...

 program began, were generally given shorter flights than Soviet cosmonauts. The European Space Agency
European Space Agency
The European Space Agency , established in 1975, is an intergovernmental organisation dedicated to the exploration of space, currently with 18 member states...

 (ESA) took advantage of the program as well.

The U.S. space shuttle program included payload specialist
Payload Specialist
A Payload Specialist ' was an individual selected and trained by commercial or research organizations for flights of a specific payload on a NASA Space Shuttle mission...

 positions which were usually filled by representatives of companies or institutions managing a specific payload on that mission. These payload specialists did not receive the same training as professional NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 astronauts and were not employed by NASA. In 1983, Ulf Merbold
Ulf Merbold
Dr. Ulf Dietrich Merbold is the first West German citizen and second German native to have flown in space. He is also the first member of the European Space Agency Astronaut Corps to participate in a spaceflight mission. He holds the distinction of being the first non-US citizen to reach orbit in...

 from ESA and Byron Lichtenberg
Byron K. Lichtenberg
Byron Kurt Lichtenberg, Sc. D. is an American engineer and fighter pilot who flew aboard two NASA Space Shuttle missions as a Payload Specialist. In 1983, he and Ulf Merbold became the first Payload Specialists to fly on the shuttle.-Personal:Born February 19, 1948 in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania...

 from MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is a private research university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. MIT has five schools and one college, containing a total of 32 academic departments, with a strong emphasis on scientific and technological education and research.Founded in 1861 in...

 (engineer and Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 fighter pilot
Fighter pilot
A fighter pilot is a military aviator trained in air-to-air combat while piloting a fighter aircraft . Fighter pilots undergo specialized training in aerial warfare and dogfighting...

) were the first Payload Specialists
STS-9
STS-9 was a NASA Space Shuttle mission which carried the first Spacelab module into orbit to conduct space-based scientific experiments. It was the sixth mission of the Space Shuttle Columbia, and was Columbia's last flight until STS-61-C in January 1986...

 to fly on the Space Shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

, becoming the first non-NASA astronauts. In 1984, Charlie Walker became the first non-government astronaut to fly, with his flight
STS-41-D
STS-41-D was the first flight of NASA's Space Shuttle orbiter Discovery. It was the 12th mission of the Space Shuttle program, and was launched from Kennedy Space Center, Florida, on 30 August 1984...

 paid for by his employer, McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas
McDonnell Douglas was a major American aerospace manufacturer and defense contractor, producing a number of famous commercial and military aircraft. It formed from a merger of McDonnell Aircraft and Douglas Aircraft in 1967. McDonnell Douglas was based at Lambert-St. Louis International Airport...

. NASA was also eager to prove its capability to Congressional sponsors. Senator Jake Garn
Jake Garn
Edwin Jacob "Jake" Garn is an American politician, a member of the Republican Party, and served as a U.S. Senator representing Utah from 1974 to 1993...

 was flown on the shuttle in 1985, followed by Representative Bill Nelson
Bill Nelson
Clarence William "Bill" Nelson is the senior United States Senator from the state of Florida and a member of the Democratic Party. He is a former U.S. Representative and former Treasurer and Insurance Commissioner of Florida...

 (now Senator) in 1986. As the shuttle program expanded, the Teacher in Space
Teacher in Space Project
The Teacher in Space Project was a NASA program announced by Ronald Reagan in 1984 designed to inspire students, honor teachers, and spur interest in mathematics, science, and space exploration....

 program was developed as a way to expand publicity and educational opportunities for NASA. Christa McAuliffe
Christa McAuliffe
Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, and was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster....

 would have been the first Teacher in Space, but was killed in the Challenger disaster and the program was canceled. During the same period a Journalist in Space program was frequently discussed, with individuals such as Walter Cronkite
Walter Cronkite
Walter Leland Cronkite, Jr. was an American broadcast journalist, best known as anchorman for the CBS Evening News for 19 years . During the heyday of CBS News in the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the most trusted man in America" after being so named in an opinion poll...

 considered a front runners, but no formal program was ever developed. McAuliffe's backup in the Teacher in Space Program, Barbara Morgan
Barbara Morgan
Barbara Radding Morgan is an American teacher and a former NASA astronaut. She participated in the Teacher in Space program as the backup to Christa McAuliffe for the ill-fated STS-51L mission of Space Shuttle Challenger. She then trained as a Mission Specialist, and flew on STS-118 in August 2007...

, eventually got hired in 1998 as a professional astronaut and flew on STS-118
STS-118
- Crew notes :Astronaut Clayton Anderson originally was slated to be launched to the ISS on this mission, but was moved to STS-117. His replacement was Alvin Drew....

 as a mission specialist
Mission Specialist
A Mission Specialist is a position held by certain NASA astronauts during Space Shuttle missions. A Mission Specialist is assigned to a limited field of the mission, such as for medical experiments or technical quests....

 where she spoke to many students as an educator during the trip.

A second journalist-in-space program, in which NASA green-lighted Miles O'Brien
Miles O'Brien (journalist)
Miles O'Brien is a broadcast news journalist specializing in aviation, space and technology.-Early life:...

 to fly on the space shuttle, was scheduled to be announced in 2003. That program was canceled in the wake of the Columbia accident on STS-107
STS-107
-Mission parameters:*Mass:**Orbiter Liftoff: **Orbiter Landing: **Payload: *Perigee: *Apogee: *Inclination: 39.0°*Period: 90.1 min- Insignia :...

 and subsequent emphasis on finishing the International Space Station before retiring the space shuttle.

With the realities of the post-Perestroika
Perestroika
Perestroika was a political movement within the Communist Party of the Soviet Union during 1980s, widely associated with the Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev...

 economy in Russia, its space industry was especially starved for cash. The Tokyo Broadcasting System
Tokyo Broadcasting System
, TBS Holdings, Inc. or TBSHD, is a stockholding company in Tokyo, Japan. It is a parent company of a television network named and radio network named ....

 (TBS) offered to pay for one of its reporters to fly on a mission. For $28 million, Toyohiro Akiyama
Toyohiro Akiyama
is a Japanese TV journalist best known for his flight to the Mir space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft in 1990. Akiyama is the first person of Japanese descent to have flown in space. He was known as the "Space Journalist" in Japan....

 was flown in 1990 to Mir
Mir
Mir was a space station operated in low Earth orbit from 1986 to 2001, at first by the Soviet Union and then by Russia. Assembled in orbit from 1986 to 1996, Mir was the first modular space station and had a greater mass than that of any previous spacecraft, holding the record for the...

 with the eighth crew and returned a week later with the seventh crew. Akiyama gave a daily TV broadcast from orbit and also performed scientific experiments for Russian and Japanese companies. However, since the cost of the flight was paid by his employer, Akiyama could be considered a business traveler rather than a tourist.

In 1991, British chemist Helen Sharman
Helen Sharman
Helen Patricia Sharman, OBE PhD , is a British chemist. She was the first Briton in space, visiting the Mir space station aboard Soyuz TM-12 in 1991....

 was selected from a pool of 13,000 applicants to be the first Briton in space. The program was known as Project Juno
Project Juno
Project Juno was a private British space programme, which selected Helen Sharman to be the first Briton in space.As the United Kingdom has never had a human spaceflight programme, a private consortium was formed to raise money to pay the USSR for a seat on a Soyuz mission to the Mir space station...

 and was a cooperative arrangement between the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

 and a group of British companies. The Project Juno consortium failed to raise the funds required, and the program was almost cancelled. Reportedly Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Gorbachev
Mikhail Sergeyevich Gorbachev is a former Soviet statesman, having served as General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 1985 until 1991, and as the last head of state of the USSR, having served from 1988 until its dissolution in 1991...

 ordered it to proceed under Soviet expense in the interests of international relations, but in the absence of Western underwriting, less expensive experiments were substituted for those in the original plans. Sharman flew aboard Soyuz TM-12
Soyuz TM-12
-Mission highlights:12th expedition to Mir. Included first Briton in space.The Derbents welcomed aboard Mir Anatoli Artsebarski, Sergei Krikalev , and British cosmonaut-researcher Helen Sharman, who was aboard as part of Project Juno, a cooperative venture partly sponsored by British private...

 to Mir and returned aboard Soyuz TM-11
Soyuz TM-11
-Mission highlights:Soyuz TM-11 was launched the same day as STS-35.11th expedition to Mir. Toyohiro Akiyama was a reporter/space tourist for a Japanese television network....

.

Orbital space tourism

At the end of the 1990s, MirCorp
MirCorp
MirCorp was a commercial space company created in 1999 by space entrepreneurs and involving the Russian space program that successfully undertook a number of firsts in the business of space exploration by using the aging Russian space station Mir as a commercial platform...

, a private venture by then in charge of the space station, began seeking potential space tourists to visit Mir in order to offset some of its maintenance costs. Dennis Tito
Dennis Tito
Dennis Anthony Tito is an Italian American engineer and multimillionaire, most widely known as the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space. In mid-2001, he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visiting mission to the International Space Station...

, an American businessman and former JPL
Jet Propulsion Laboratory
Jet Propulsion Laboratory is a federally funded research and development center and NASA field center located in the San Gabriel Valley area of Los Angeles County, California, United States. The facility is headquartered in the city of Pasadena on the border of La Cañada Flintridge and Pasadena...

 scientist
Scientist
A scientist in a broad sense is one engaging in a systematic activity to acquire knowledge. In a more restricted sense, a scientist is an individual who uses the scientific method. The person may be an expert in one or more areas of science. This article focuses on the more restricted use of the word...

, became their first candidate. When the decision to de-orbit Mir was made, Tito managed to switch his trip to the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 through a deal between MirCorp and U.S.-based Space Adventures
Space Adventures
Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...

, Ltd., despite strong opposition from senior figures at NASA. From the beginning of the International Space Station expeditions, NASA stated it wasn't interested in space guests. Space Adventures
Space Adventures
Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...

 remains the only company to have sent paying passengers to space.

In conjunction with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation and Rocket and Space Corporation (Energia
S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia
OAO S.P. Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia , also known as RKK Energiya, is a Russian manufacturer of spacecraft and space station components...

), Space Adventures facilitated the flights for all of the world's first private space explorers. The first three participants paid in excess of $20 million (USD) each for their 10-day visit to the ISS.

On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito
Dennis Tito
Dennis Anthony Tito is an Italian American engineer and multimillionaire, most widely known as the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space. In mid-2001, he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visiting mission to the International Space Station...

 became the first "fee-paying" space tourist when he visited the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 (ISS) for seven days. He was followed in 2002 by South African computer millionaire Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Richard Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur who was the second self-funded space tourist. Shuttleworth founded Canonical Ltd. and as of 2010, provides leadership for the Ubuntu operating system...

. The third was Gregory Olsen
Gregory Olsen
Gregory Hammond "Greg" Olsen is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures....

 in 2005, who was trained as a scientist and whose company produced specialist high-sensitivity cameras. Olsen planned to use his time on the ISS to conduct a number of experiments, in part to test his company's products. Olsen had planned an earlier flight, but had to cancel for health reasons.

After the Columbia disaster, space tourism on the Russian Soyuz program was temporarily put on hold, because Soyuz vehicles
Soyuz spacecraft
Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...

 became the only available transport to the ISS. However, in 2006, space tourism was resumed. On September 18, 2006, Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari is an engineer and the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. . The Ansari family is also the title sponsor of the Ansari X Prize. On September 18, 2006,...

, an Iranian American (Soyuz TMA-9
Soyuz TMA-9
-Crew notes:Daisuke Enomoto Was originally scheduled to be the spaceflight participant, but on on 21 August 2006, he was determined to be unfit for the flight due to medical reasons, and replaced by Anousheh Ansari, his back-up crew member.-Docking with ISS:...

), became the fourth space tourist (she prefers "private space explorer".). On April 7, 2007, Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi is a Hungarian-American computer software executive who, as head of Microsoft's application software group, oversaw the creation of Microsoft's flagship Office suite of applications. He now heads his own company, Intentional Software, with the aim of developing and marketing his...

, an American businessman of Hungarian descent, joined their ranks (Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 17:31:09 UTC on April 7, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...

). Simonyi became the first repeat space tourist, paying again to fly on Soyuz TMA-14
Soyuz TMA-14
The Soyuz TMA-14 was a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station, which launched on 26 March 2009. It transported two members of the Expedition 19 crew as well as spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi on his second self-funded flight to the space station...

 in March–April 2009. Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté, OC, CQ is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist and the current CEO of Cirque du Soleil...

 became the next space tourist in September, 2009 aboard Soyuz TMA-16
Soyuz TMA-16
The Soyuz TMA-16 was a manned flight to and from the International Space Station . It transported two members of the Expedition 21 crew and a Canadian entrepreneur from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS. TMA-16 was the 103rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching...

.

In 2003, NASA and the Russian Space Agency agreed to use the term 'Spaceflight Participant' to distinguish those space travelers from astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies. Tito, Shuttleworth, Olsen, Ansari, and Simonyi were designated as such during their respective space flights. NASA also lists Christa McAuliffe
Christa McAuliffe
Christa McAuliffe was an American teacher from Concord, New Hampshire, and was one of the seven crew members killed in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster....

 as a "Space Flight Participant" (although she did not pay a fee), apparently due to her non-technical duties aboard the STS-51-L flight.

As reported by Reuters on 3 March 2010, Russia announced that the country will double the number of launches of three-man Soyuz ships to four that year, because "permanent crews of professional astronauts aboard the expanded [ISS] station are set to rise to six"; regarding space tourism, the head of the Russian Cosmonauts' Training Center said "for some time there will be a break in these journeys". On January 12, 2011, Space Adventures
Space Adventures
Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...

 and the Russian Federal Space Agency
Russian Federal Space Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...

 announced that orbital space tourism would resume in 2013 with the increase of manned Soyuz launches to the ISS from four to five per year.

List of flown space tourists

Seven of the space tourists flew to and from the International Space Station
International Space Station
The International Space Station is a habitable, artificial satellite in low Earth orbit. The ISS follows the Salyut, Almaz, Cosmos, Skylab, and Mir space stations, as the 11th space station launched, not including the Genesis I and II prototypes...

 on Soyuz spacecraft
Soyuz spacecraft
Soyuz , Union) is a series of spacecraft initially designed for the Soviet space programme by the Korolyov Design Bureau in the 1960s, and still in service today...

 through the space tourism company Space Adventures
Space Adventures
Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...

:
Space tourist Nationality Year Duration of flight Flight Amount paid (USD)
1. Dennis Tito
Dennis Tito
Dennis Anthony Tito is an Italian American engineer and multimillionaire, most widely known as the first space tourist to fund his own trip into space. In mid-2001, he spent nearly eight days in orbit as a crew member of ISS EP-1, a visiting mission to the International Space Station...

American 2001 8 days (Apr 28 – May 6) Launch: Soyuz TM-32
Soyuz TM-32
Soyuz TM-32 was a manned Russian spacecraft which was launched on April 28, 2001, and docked with the International Space Station two days later. It launched the crew of the visiting mission ISS EP-1, which included the first paying space tourist Dennis Tito, as well as two Russian cosmonauts...


Return: Soyuz TM-31
Soyuz TM-31
Soyuz TM-31 was the first Soyuz spacecraft to dock with the International Space Station . Launched near the end of 2000 the Soyuz-TM spacecraft brought to ISS Expedition 1, the first long-duration ISS crew...

$20 million
2. Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Richard Shuttleworth is a South African entrepreneur who was the second self-funded space tourist. Shuttleworth founded Canonical Ltd. and as of 2010, provides leadership for the Ubuntu operating system...

South African 2002 11 days (Apr 25 – May 5) Launch: Soyuz TM-34
Soyuz TM-34
Soyuz TM-34 was the fourth Soyuz mission to the International Space Station . Soyuz TM-34 was launched by a Soyuz-U launch vehicle.-Crew:-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: April 27, 2002, 07:55 UTC...


Return: Soyuz TM-33
Soyuz TM-33
Soyuz TM-33 was a manned Russian space launch on Oct 21, 2001, on the Soyuz-U launch vehicle. Its mission was to carry a new crew and supplies to the International Space Station.-Crew:-Docking with ISS:...

$20 million
3. Gregory Olsen
Gregory Olsen
Gregory Hammond "Greg" Olsen is an American entrepreneur, engineer and scientist who, in October 2005, became the third private citizen to make a self-funded trip to the International Space Station with the company Space Adventures....

American 2005 11 days (Oct 1 – Oct 11) Launch: Soyuz TMA-7
Soyuz TMA-7
Soyuz TMA-7 was a transport mission for portions of the International Space Station Expedition 12 crew launched October 1, 2005. The flight delivered ISS Commander William McArthur and ISS Flight Engineer Valery Tokarev to the station to replace Expedition 11 crew members...


Return: Soyuz TMA-6
Soyuz TMA-6
Soyuz TMA-6 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station launched by a Soyuz-FG launch vehicle.-Crew:-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: April 17, 2005, 02:20 UTC...

$20 million
4. Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari is an engineer and the Iranian-American co-founder and chairman of Prodea Systems. Her previous business accomplishments include serving as co-founder and CEO of Telecom Technologies, Inc. . The Ansari family is also the title sponsor of the Ansari X Prize. On September 18, 2006,...

Iranian / American 2006 12 days (Sept 18 – Sept 29) Launch: Soyuz TMA-9
Soyuz TMA-9
-Crew notes:Daisuke Enomoto Was originally scheduled to be the spaceflight participant, but on on 21 August 2006, he was determined to be unfit for the flight due to medical reasons, and replaced by Anousheh Ansari, his back-up crew member.-Docking with ISS:...


Return: Soyuz TMA-8
Soyuz TMA-8
-Back-up crew:-Docking with ISS:*Docked to ISS: April 1, 2006, 04:19 UTC *Undocked from ISS: September 28, 2006, 21:53 UTC -Mission highlights:29th manned flight to ISS...

Undisclosed
5. Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi is a Hungarian-American computer software executive who, as head of Microsoft's application software group, oversaw the creation of Microsoft's flagship Office suite of applications. He now heads his own company, Intentional Software, with the aim of developing and marketing his...

Hungarian / American 2007 15 days (Apr 7 – Apr 21) Launch: Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10
Soyuz TMA-10 was a human spaceflight mission using a Soyuz-TMA spacecraft to transport personnel to and from the International Space Station . The mission began at 17:31:09 UTC on April 7, 2007 when the spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome by a Soyuz FG launch vehicle...


Return: Soyuz TMA-9
Soyuz TMA-9
-Crew notes:Daisuke Enomoto Was originally scheduled to be the spaceflight participant, but on on 21 August 2006, he was determined to be unfit for the flight due to medical reasons, and replaced by Anousheh Ansari, his back-up crew member.-Docking with ISS:...

2009 14 days (Mar 26 – Apr 8) Launch: Soyuz TMA-14
Soyuz TMA-14
The Soyuz TMA-14 was a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station, which launched on 26 March 2009. It transported two members of the Expedition 19 crew as well as spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi on his second self-funded flight to the space station...


Return: Soyuz TMA-13
Soyuz TMA-13
Soyuz TMA-13 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station . The spacecraft was launched by a Soyuz-FG rocket at 07:01 GMT on 12 October 2008. It undocked at 02:55 GMT on 8 April 2009, performed a deorbit burn at 06:24, and landed at 07:16...

6. Richard Garriott
Richard Garriott
Richard Allen Garriott is a British-American video game developer and entrepreneur.He is also known as his alter egos Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa...

American / British 2008 12 days (Oct 12 – Oct 23) Launch: Soyuz TMA-13
Soyuz TMA-13
Soyuz TMA-13 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station . The spacecraft was launched by a Soyuz-FG rocket at 07:01 GMT on 12 October 2008. It undocked at 02:55 GMT on 8 April 2009, performed a deorbit burn at 06:24, and landed at 07:16...


Return: Soyuz TMA-12
Soyuz TMA-12
Soyuz TMA-12 was a Soyuz mission to the International Space Station which was launched by a Soyuz FG rocket at 11:16 UTC on 8 April 2008. It docked to the Pirs module of the station on 10 April 2008. Landing occurred at 03:37 on 24 October...

$30 million
7. Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté, OC, CQ is a Canadian entrepreneur, philanthropist, poker player, space tourist and the current CEO of Cirque du Soleil...

Canadian 2009 11 days (Sept 30 – Oct 11) Launch: Soyuz TMA-16
Soyuz TMA-16
The Soyuz TMA-16 was a manned flight to and from the International Space Station . It transported two members of the Expedition 21 crew and a Canadian entrepreneur from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to the ISS. TMA-16 was the 103rd flight of a Soyuz spacecraft, the first flight launching...


Return: Soyuz TMA-14
Soyuz TMA-14
The Soyuz TMA-14 was a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station, which launched on 26 March 2009. It transported two members of the Expedition 19 crew as well as spaceflight participant Charles Simonyi on his second self-funded flight to the space station...

$35 million

Suborbital flights

No suborbital space tourism has occurred yet, but since it is projected to be more affordable, it is viewed as a money-making proposition by several companies, including RocketShip Tours
RocketShip Tours
RocketShip Tours is an American space tourism company founded by travel industry entrepreneur Jules Klar which plans to provide sub-orbital human spaceflights to the paying public, in partnership with rocketplane developer XCOR Aerospace...

, Space Adventures
Space Adventures
Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...

, Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...

, Starchaser, Blue Origin
Blue Origin
Blue Origin is a privately funded aerospace company set up by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos. The company was awarded $3.7 million in funding in 2009 by NASA via a Space Act Agreement under the Commercial Crew Development program for development of concepts and technologies to support future human...

, Armadillo Aerospace
Armadillo Aerospace
Armadillo Aerospace is an aerospace startup company based in Mesquite, Texas. Its initial goal is to build a manned suborbital spacecraft capable of space tourism, but it has stated long-term ambitions of orbital spaceflight. The company was founded by John Carmack.On October 24, 2008, Armadillo...

, XCOR Aerospace
XCOR Aerospace
XCOR Aerospace is an American private rocket engine and spaceflight development company based at the Mojave Spaceport in Mojave, California. XCOR was formed by former members of the Rotary Rocket rocket engine development team in September, 1999...

, the European "Project Enterprise", Thirsty Swagman and others - for example, in 1966 Robert Truax
Robert Truax
Captain Robert C. Truax was a rocket engineer in the United States Navy, and companies such as Aerojet and Truax Engineering, which he founded...

 founded first unreleased company Truax Engineering, Inc. and the new projects of non-profit rocketgroups Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...

n ARCASPACE
ARCASPACE
Asociația Română pentru Cosmonautică și Aeronautică or Romanian Cosmonautics and Aeronautics Association is a non-governmental organization that promotes aerospace projects as well as other space-related activities...

 since 1999, Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

 Copenhagen Suborbitals
Copenhagen Suborbitals
Copenhagen Suborbitals is a non-profit organization working towards suborbital manned spaceflight. Founded in 2008 by Kristian von Bengtson and Peter Madsen the project has accomplished a successful sea launch of a test hybrid rocket, carrying a full scale human model...

 since 2008). Most are proposing vehicles that make suborbital flights peaking at an altitude of 100-160 kilometres. Passengers would experience three to six minutes of weightlessness, a view of a twinkle-free starfield, and a vista of the curved Earth below. Projected costs are expected to be about $200,000 per passenger.

As of March 2010 Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...

 had pre-sold nearly 410 seats for their suborbital space tourism flights, according to the company's website.

X Prize

On October 4, 2004, the SpaceShipOne, designed by Burt Rutan
Burt Rutan
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft...

 of Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...

, won the $10,000,000 X Prize
Ansari X Prize
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks...

, which was designed to be won by the first private company who could reach and surpass an altitude of 62 miles (99.8 km) twice within two weeks. The altitude is beyond the Kármán Line
Karman line
The Kármán line lies at an altitude of above the Earth's sea level, and is commonly used to define the boundary between the Earth's atmosphere and outer space...

, the arbitrarily defined boundary of space. The first flight was flown by Michael Melvill
Mike Melvill
Michael Winston "Mike" Melvill is one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites. Melvill piloted SpaceShipOne on its first flight past the edge of space, flight 15P on June 21, 2004, thus becoming the first commercial astronaut and the 434th...

 on June 21, 2004 to a height of 62 miles, making him the first commercial astronaut. The prize-winning flight was flown by Brian Binnie
Brian Binnie
William Brian Binnie is a former United States Navy officer and is one of the test pilots for SpaceShipOne, the experimental spaceplane developed by Scaled Composites.-History:...

, which reached a height of 69.6 miles, breaking the X-15 record.

Virgin Galactic

Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...

, one of the leading potential space tourism groups, is planning to begin passenger service aboard the VSS Enterprise
VSS Enterprise
The VSS Enterprise is the first of five commercial suborbital spacecraft being constructed for Virgin Galactic by Scaled Composites....

, a Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...

 SpaceShipTwo type spacecraft. The initial seat price is $200,000, with a required down-payment of $20,000. To date, over 410 people have made down payments on bookings. Headed by Sir Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

's Virgin Group
Virgin Group
Virgin Group Limited is a British branded venture capital conglomerate organisation founded by business tycoon Richard Branson. The core business areas are travel, entertainment and lifestyle. Virgin Group's date of incorporation is listed as 1989 by Companies House, who class it as a holding...

, Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic
Virgin Galactic is a company within Richard Branson's Virgin Group which plans to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public, along with suborbital space science missions and orbital launches of small satellites...

 hopes to be the first private space tourism company to regularly send civilians into space. A citizen astronaut will only require three days of training before spaceflight. SpaceShipTwo is a scaled up version of SpaceShipOne, the spacecraft which claimed the Ansari X Prize
Ansari X Prize
The Ansari X Prize was a space competition in which the X Prize Foundation offered a US$10,000,000 prize for the first non-government organization to launch a reusable manned spacecraft into space twice within two weeks...

. Both spacecraft were designed by Burt Rutan
Burt Rutan
Elbert Leander "Burt" Rutan is an American aerospace engineer noted for his originality in designing light, strong, unusual-looking, energy-efficient aircraft...

's Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...

. Launches will initially occur at the Mojave Spaceport in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, and will then be moved to Spaceport America
Spaceport America
Spaceport America is a spaceport located in the Jornada del Muerto desert basin in New Mexico, United States. It lies north of El Paso, north of Las Cruces, east of Truth or Consequences...

 in Upham, New Mexico
Upham, New Mexico
Upham is an uninhabited, unincorporated town and place in Sierra County, New Mexico, United States. It has gained recognition for being near the site for the Spaceport America facility being developed by the New Mexico Spaceport Authority...

.
Tourists will also be flown from Kiruna
Kiruna
Kiruna is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is the seat of Kiruna Municipality Kiruna (Northern Sami: Giron, Finnish: Kiiruna) is the northernmost city in Sweden, situated in Lapland province, with 18,154 inhabitants in 2005. It is...

, Sweden
The spacecraft will travel 360,000 feet (109.73 km/68.18 miles) high. This goes beyond the internationally defined boundary between Earth and space of 100 km. Spaceflights will last 2.5 hours, carry 6 passengers, and reach a speed of Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...

 3. SpaceShipTwo will not require a space shuttle
Space Shuttle
The Space Shuttle was a manned orbital rocket and spacecraft system operated by NASA on 135 missions from 1981 to 2011. The system combined rocket launch, orbital spacecraft, and re-entry spaceplane with modular add-ons...

-like heat shield for atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric reentry
Atmospheric entry is the movement of human-made or natural objects as they enter the atmosphere of a celestial body from outer space—in the case of Earth from an altitude above the Kármán Line,...

 as it will not experience the extreme aerodynamic heating
Aerodynamic heating
Aerodynamic heating is the heating of a solid body produced by the passage of fluid over a body such as a meteor, missile, or airplane. It is a form of forced convection in that the flow field is created by forces beyond those associated with the thermal processes...

 experienced during reentry at orbital velocities (approximately Mach
Mach number
Mach number is the speed of an object moving through air, or any other fluid substance, divided by the speed of sound as it is in that substance for its particular physical conditions, including those of temperature and pressure...

 22.5 at a typical shuttle altitude of 300 km, or 185 miles). The glider will employ a "feathering" technique to manage drag during the unpowered descent and landing. SpaceShipTwo will use a single hybrid rocket motor to launch from mid-air after detaching from a mother ship at 50,000 feet, instead of NASA's space shuttle's ground-based launch.

Project Enterprise

Project Enterprise was launched by the German TALIS Institute in 2004 and is the first project of its kind in Europe. The goal is to develop a rocket-propelled spaceplane by 2011 that will carry one pilot and up to five passengers into suborbital space. The plane will launch from the ground using rockets, and will return in an unpowered flight like Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo. The prototypes and finished spaceplane will be launched from an airport near Cochstedt (Germany; Saxony-Anhalt).

Since 2004, the TALIS Institute has gained many industrial partners, including XtremeAir, who will manufacture the airframe, and Swiss Propulsion Laboratory SPL, who will deliver the propulsion components. XtremeAir is known for their acrobatic airplanes, and SPL has designed and tested liquid propellant rocket engines since 1998.

Current work is focusing on the first prototype, the "Black Sky": An existing acrobatic airplane that would be fitted with a single rocket engine and a new wing. The rocket engine is expected to deliver a thrust of 10 kN. The test program for this engine started in 2007 at SPL and is expected to fly by 2010.

United States

In December 2005, the U.S. Government released a set of proposed rules for space tourism. These included screening procedures and training for emergency situations, but not health requirements.

Under current US law, any company proposing to launch paying passengers from American soil on a suborbital rocket must receive a license from the Federal Aviation Administration
Federal Aviation Administration
The Federal Aviation Administration is the national aviation authority of the United States. An agency of the United States Department of Transportation, it has authority to regulate and oversee all aspects of civil aviation in the U.S...

's Office of Commercial Space Transportation
Office of Commercial Space Transportation
The Office of Commercial Space Transportation is the branch of the United States Federal Aviation Administration that approves any commercial rocket launch operations—that is, any launches that are not classified as model, amateur, or "by and for the government."-Overview:Under...

 (FAA/AST). The licensing process focuses on public safety and safety of property, and the details can be found in the Code of Federal Regulations, Title 14, Chapter III. This is in accordance with the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act passed by Congress in 2004.

Orbital flights, space stations and space hotels

  • EADS Astrium
    EADS Astrium
    Astrium Satellites is one of the three business units of Astrium, a subsidiary of EADS. It is a European space manufacturer involved in the manufacture of spacecraft used for science, Earth observation and telecommunication, as well as the equipment and subsystems used therein and related ground...

    , a subsidiary of European aerospace giant EADS
    EADS
    The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...

    , announced its space tourism project
    EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project
    The EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project, also called EADS Astrium TBN according to some sources, is a suborbital spaceplane concept for carrying space tourists, proposed by EADS Astrium, the space subsidiary of the European consortium EADS. A mockup was officially unveiled in Paris on June 13,...

     on June 13, 2007.
  • SpaceX
    SpaceX
    Space Exploration Technologies Corporation, or more popularly and informally known as SpaceX, is an American space transport company that operates out of Hawthorne, California...

     is a private space company which is developing their own rocket family called Falcon and a capsule named Dragon, capable of sending up to 7 people to any space station, either ISS or a possible station by Bigelow Aerospace
    Bigelow Aerospace
    Bigelow Aerospace is a North Las Vegas, Nevada space technology startup company that is pioneering work on expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998...

    . Falcon 1
    Falcon 1
    The Falcon 1 is a partially reusable launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX, a space transportation company in Hawthorne, California. The two-stage-to-orbit rocket uses LOX/RP-1 for both stages, the first powered by a single Merlin engine and the second powered by a single Kestrel engine...

     has already undertaken testflights and successfully completed its first commercial flight on July 14, 2009, deploying the Malaysian RazakSAT
    RazakSAT
    RazakSAT is a Malaysian satellite carrying a high-resolution camera. It was launched into low Earth orbit by a Falcon 1 rocket on July 14, 2009. It was placed into a near-equatorial orbit that presents many imaging opportunities for the equatorial region.It weighs over three times a much as...

     into orbit. Falcon 9
    Falcon 9
    Falcon 9 is a rocket-powered spaceflight launch system designed and manufactured by SpaceX. Both stages of its two-stage-to-orbit vehicle use liquid oxygen and rocket-grade kerosene propellants...

     (which will be the rocket for the Dragon capsule) was first launched June 4, 2010 at Space Launch Complex 40 in Cape Canaveral
    Cape Canaveral
    Cape Canaveral, from the Spanish Cabo Cañaveral, is a headland in Brevard County, Florida, United States, near the center of the state's Atlantic coast. Known as Cape Kennedy from 1963 to 1973, it lies east of Merritt Island, separated from it by the Banana River.It is part of a region known as the...

    . An initial prototype of the Dragon capsule is expected to be used on this test flight; SpaceX anticipates that Dragon could be qualified for human spaceflight within 3 years of the receipt of NASA CCDV funding.
  • Space Adventures
    Space Adventures
    Space Adventures, Ltd. is a Virginia, USA-based space tourism company founded in 1998 by Eric C. Anderson. , offerings include zero-gravity atmospheric flights, orbital spaceflights , and other spaceflight-related experiences including cosmonaut training, spacewalk training, and launch tours...

     Ltd. have also announced that they are working on circumlunar missions to the moon
    DSE-Alpha
    Deep Space Expedition Alpha , is the name given to the mission proposed in 2005 to take the first space tourists to fly around the Moon. The mission is organized by Space Adventures Ltd., a commercial spaceflight company...

    , with the price per passenger being $100,000,000. They are currently developing spaceports at the United Arab Emirates
    United Arab Emirates
    The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...

     (Ras al-Khaimah
    Ras al-Khaimah
    Ras al-Khaimah is one of the emirates of the United Arab Emirates , in the east of the Persian Gulf. It is in the northern part of the UAE bordering Oman's exclave. The capital city and home of most residents is also called Ras al-Khaimah. The city has a population of 263,217 as of 2008. The city...

    ) and in Singapore
    Singapore
    Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...

    .
  • Orbital space tourist flights are also being planned by Excalibur Almaz
    Excalibur Almaz
    Excalibur Almaz is a private spaceflight company which plans to provide orbital space tourism, and provide test beds for experiments in a microgravity environment., Excalibur hoped to begin flights by 2012 with revenue flights starting as early as 2013....

    , using modernized TKS
    TKS spacecraft
    TKS spacecraft was a Soviet spacecraft design in the late 1960s intended to supply the military Almaz space station. The spacecraft was designed for manned or autonomous cargo resupply use...

     space capsules.

Several plans have been proposed for using a space station
Space station
A space station is a spacecraft capable of supporting a crew which is designed to remain in space for an extended period of time, and to which other spacecraft can dock. A space station is distinguished from other spacecraft used for human spaceflight by its lack of major propulsion or landing...

 as a hotel. American motel tycoon Robert Bigelow
Robert Bigelow
Robert T. Bigelow is a hotel and aerospace entrepreneur. He owns the hotel chain Budget Suites of America and is the founder of Bigelow Aerospace....

 has acquired the designs for inflatable space habitats from the Transhab
Transhab
TransHab was a concept pursued by NASA to develop the technology for expandable habitats inflated by air in space. Specifically, TransHab was intended as a replacement for the already existing rigid International Space Station crew Habitation Module. When deflated, inflatable modules provide an...

 program abandoned by NASA. His company, Bigelow Aerospace
Bigelow Aerospace
Bigelow Aerospace is a North Las Vegas, Nevada space technology startup company that is pioneering work on expandable space station modules. Bigelow Aerospace was founded by Robert Bigelow in 1998...

, has already launched two first inflatable habitat modules. The first, named Genesis I, was launched 12 July 2006. The second test module, Genesis II
Genesis II
Genesis II is a 1973 American TV film created and produced by Gene Roddenberry and directed by John Llewellyn Moxey.It opens with the line, "My name is Dylan Hunt...

, was launched 28 June 2007. Both Genesis habitats remain in orbit as of mid-2009. As of 2006, Bigelow planned to officially launch the first commercial space station by 2012 (tagged Nautilus
Nautilus (space station module)
The BA 330 is the complete, full-scale production model of Bigelow Aerospace's expandable space habitation module program...

) which will have 330 cubic meters (almost as big as the ISS's 425 cubic meters of usable volume).

Bigelow Aerospace was offering the America's Space Prize
America's Space Prize
America's Space Prize was a US$50 million space competition in orbital spaceflight established and funded in 2004 by hotel entrepreneur Robert Bigelow. The prize would have been awarded to the first US-based privately-funded team to design and build a reusable manned capsule capable of flying 5...

, a $50 million prize to the first US company to create a reusable spacecraft capable of carrying passengers to a Nautilus space station, no one made an attempt to win the prize.

Other companies have also expressed interest in constructing "space hotels".
For example, Excalibur Almaz
Excalibur Almaz
Excalibur Almaz is a private spaceflight company which plans to provide orbital space tourism, and provide test beds for experiments in a microgravity environment., Excalibur hoped to begin flights by 2012 with revenue flights starting as early as 2013....

 plans to modernize and launch its Soviet-era Almaz
Almaz
The Almaz program was a series of military space stations launched by the Soviet Union under cover of the civilian Salyut DOS-17K program after 1971....

 space stations, which will feature the largest windows ever on spacecraft. Virgin's Richard Branson
Richard Branson
Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson is an English business magnate, best known for his Virgin Group of more than 400 companies....

 has expressed his
hope for the construction of a space hotel within his lifetime. He expects that beginning a space tourism program will cost $100 million. Hilton International announced the Space Islands Project, a plan to connect together used space shuttle fuel tanks, each the diameter of a Boeing
Boeing
The Boeing Company is an American multinational aerospace and defense corporation, founded in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. Boeing has expanded over the years, merging with McDonnell Douglas in 1997. Boeing Corporate headquarters has been in Chicago, Illinois since 2001...

 747
Boeing 747
The Boeing 747 is a wide-body commercial airliner and cargo transport, often referred to by its original nickname, Jumbo Jet, or Queen of the Skies. It is among the world's most recognizable aircraft, and was the first wide-body ever produced...

 aircraft. A separate organization, Space Island Group
Space Island Group
Space Island Group is a commercial organization based in West Covina, CA that is dedicated to the development of commerce, research, manufacturing and tourism in space. They plan to accomplish this by designing, building and operating commercial space transportation systems and destinations. ...

 announced their distinct Space Island Project (note the singular "Island"), and plans on having 20,000 people on their "space island" by 2020, with the number of people doubling for each decade. British Airways
British Airways
British Airways is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations...

 has expressed interest in the venture. If and when Space Hotels develop, it would initially cost a passenger $60,000, with prices lowering over time.

Fashion designer Eri Matsui
Eri Matsui
is a Japanese fashion designer known for mathematically-inspired designs. Her 2000 collection featured many designs created using the Mathematica software program...

 has designed clothing, including a wedding gown, intended to look best in weightless environments.

Advocacy, education, and industry organizations

Several organizations have been formed to promote the space tourism industry, including the Space Tourism Society and others.
More information about the future of Space Tourism can be found at Space Tourism Lecture, which is a free online Space Tourism Lecture handout collection. Dr. Clinton J. Wallington taught the first course in Space Tourism Development, at Rochester Institute of Technology, beginning in 1999. Since 2003 Dr. Robert A. Goehlich has taught a Space Tourism class at Keio University, Yokohama, Japan. Space Tourism Syllabus
UniGalactic Space Travel Magazine is a bi-monthly educational publication covering space tourism and space exploration developments in companies like SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, Virgin Galactic and organizations like NASA. The content of UniGalactic Space Travel Magazine can be found on UniGalactic web site.

Opinions of commercial space tourism

A web-based survey suggested that over 70% of those surveyed wanted less than or equal to 2 weeks in space; in addition, 88% wanted to spacewalk (only 14% of these would do it for a 50% premium), and 21% wanted a hotel or space station.

The concept has met with some criticism from politicians, notably Günter Verheugen
Günter Verheugen
-Erler:At around the same time, photographs appeared showing him holidaying with Petra Erler, the head of his private office. A Commission spokesman backed him by saying "the private holidays of Vice President Verheugen in Lithuania this summer did not violate the rules applicable to members of the...

, vice-president of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....

, who said of the EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project
EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project
The EADS Astrium Space Tourism Project, also called EADS Astrium TBN according to some sources, is a suborbital spaceplane concept for carrying space tourists, proposed by EADS Astrium, the space subsidiary of the European consortium EADS. A mockup was officially unveiled in Paris on June 13,...

 "It's only for the super rich, which is against my social convictions".

Objections to "space tourist" terminology

Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Richard Garriott have all expressed a preference to be called something other than "space tourist". In each case, they explained their preferences by pointing out that they carried out scientific experiments as part of their journey; Garriott additionally emphasized their training is identical to requirements of non-Russian Soyuz crew members, and that teachers and other non-professional astronauts chosen to fly with NASA are called astronauts. Garriott prefers "cosmonaut" or "astronaut", but will accept "private" in front of either. Tito has asked to be known as an "independent researcher". Shuttleworth proposed "pioneer of commercial space travel". Olsen preferred "private researcher." Ansari prefers the term "private space explorer". Alone among those who have paid to go to orbit so far, Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi is a Hungarian-American computer software executive who, as head of Microsoft's application software group, oversaw the creation of Microsoft's flagship Office suite of applications. He now heads his own company, Intentional Software, with the aim of developing and marketing his...

 seems to have no concerns about calling it "space tourism", even in reference to his own experience. Asked in an interview "Do you foresee a day when space tourism is not just the province of billionaires - when it will be as affordable as plane travel?", he did not object to the implicit categorization of his own trip, but rather answered "Yes, the only question is when ...."

NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...

 and the Russian Federal Space Agency
Russian Federal Space Agency
The Russian Federal Space Agency , commonly called Roscosmos and abbreviated as FKA and RKA , is the government agency responsible for the Russian space science program and general aerospace research. It was previously the Russian Aviation and Space Agency .Headquarters of Roscosmos are located...

 agreed to use the term "spaceflight participant
Spaceflight participant
Spaceflight participant is the term used by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Russian Federal Space Agency for people who travel aboard space missions coordinated by those agencies who are not part of the crew...

" to distinguish those space travelers from astronauts on missions coordinated by those two agencies.

Although many space enthusiasts subscribe to the notion of space tourism as a potential burgeoning industry that could further the development and settlement of space, some of these same enthusiasts object to the use of the term "space tourist". Rick Tumlinson
Rick Tumlinson
Rick Tumlinson is the co-founder of the Space Frontier Foundation and a space activist. He has testified on space-related topics before the U.S. Congress six times since 1995...

 of the Space Frontier Foundation
Space Frontier Foundation
The Space Frontier Foundation is a space advocacy nonprofit corporation organized to promote the interests of increased involvement of the private sector, in collaboration with government, in the exploration and development of space...

, for example, has said
Others with perhaps less enthusiasm for space development seem to agree. Alex Tabarrok
Alex Tabarrok
Alexander Taghi Tabarrok is a Canadian-American economist and co-author, with Tyler Cowen, of the economics blog Marginal Revolution....

 has categorized it as a kind of "space adventure travel". The mere fact of people paying for a travel experience does not, in his view, make that activity "tourism".
Brian Binnie, and Mike Melvill, the pilots of Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites
Scaled Composites is an aerospace company founded by Burt Rutan and currently owned by Northrop Grumman that is located at the Mojave Spaceport, Mojave, California, United States...

 Space Ship One were awarded the title of Commercial Astronaut
Commercial Astronaut
A commercial astronaut is a person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a privately funded spacecraft.-Criteria:The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary. The FAI defines spaceflight as any flight over of altitude...

 by the United States Federal Aviation Administration. This is a new classification that distinguishes the holder as an astronaut, but is not associated with the United States NASA space program.

See also

  • Commercial astronaut
    Commercial Astronaut
    A commercial astronaut is a person trained to command, pilot, or serve as a crew member of a privately funded spacecraft.-Criteria:The criteria for determining who has achieved human spaceflight vary. The FAI defines spaceflight as any flight over of altitude...

  • Launch loop
    Launch loop
    A launch loop or Lofstrom loop is a proposed system for launching objects into space orbit using a moving cable-like system attached to the earth at two ends and suspended above the atmosphere in the middle...

  • Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination
    Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination
    The Quasi Universal Intergalactic Denomination was a proposed "space currency" created as a viral marketing campaign launched by Travelex with the London-based public relations and advertising firm, talkPR. The full name is a backronym from 'quid', a slang term for the British Pound...

  • Sex in space
    Sex in space
    Sex in space refers to sexual activity in the weightlessness and/or extreme environments of outer space. Usually only human sexual activity is considered...

  • Spaceflight participant
    Spaceflight participant
    Spaceflight participant is the term used by National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the Russian Federal Space Agency for people who travel aboard space missions coordinated by those agencies who are not part of the crew...

  • StarTram
    StarTram
    StarTram is a proposal for a maglev space launch system. The initial Generation 1 facility would be cargo only, launching from a mountain peak at 3 km to 7 km altitude with an evacuated tube staying at local surface level, raising ≈150,000 tons to orbit annually...

     - proposal with $13000/person to orbit goal
  • Timeline of Solar System exploration
    Timeline of solar system exploration
    This is a timeline of Solar System exploration ordered by date of spacecraft launch. It includes:*All spacecraft that have left Earth orbit for the purposes of Solar System exploration , including lunar probes....


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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