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

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