Space Tourism

Related Links

Launch Vehicles

• NASA Reusable Launch Vehicle
• Rotary Rocket Company
• Pioneer Rocket Plane
• HMX Roton Launch Vehicle

Space Tourism

• The X Prize
• Interglobal Space Lines
• Tour2Space - Space Tour
• Jim Kingdon Commentary
• International Symposium on Space Tourism

Space Societies + Misc

• National Space Society
• Island One Society
• Final Frontier Magazine
• Space Studies Institute
• Center for Mars Exploration
• Mars Direct
• Space News
• Japan Space Net
• Purdue University's List of Space Related Sites

General Information

In the wake of the Cold War, it is becoming exceedingly difficult for governments to justify spending billions of dollars to actively support the development of the space industry. More specifically, the idea that government funds will continue to be spent on the development of new launch vehicles is no longer acceptable as other economic problems seem to grow year by year.

With the X-33 and its budget of $US 1 billion, we are surely witnessing the last major government investment in the development of launch systems. Furthermore, the "voting" public's view of having government resources spent on space activities with such small visible returns, is continually deteriorating.

Compounding this problem situation is the fact that the only commercially viable space market today - telecommunications - is already oversupplied with, and can afford to pay for - the expensive, disposable launch vehicles we have today.

In the absence of a fully re-usable launch system with much lower launch costs, the space industry has almost no chance of developing into what it potentially can be; an environment that the supports human life, bolsters scientific development, provides an unlimited source of solar energy to the planet, and much much more. Basically, what we are talking about, is a potential solution to almost every major problem we are currently facing on the earth today.

In order to commercially justify the development costs of a new vehicle with these capabilities, the current market demand for launch rates has to increase substantially. One possible source for this increased launch demand is civilian space tourism. That is, short visits to low earth orbit by fare paying consumers.

Tourism itself, is one of the world's largest industries. The concept of space travel and experiencing weightlessness in zero-gravity has always been a topic of high interest. It is a dream that many people hold for a lifetime. The adventure of experiencing a space flight and the excitement of viewing the earth from space will likely create a large demand for space tourism services, once they are available. The possibility of attracting investors to supply the capital necessary to build a new transport vehicle for space or orbital tourism, is primarily dependent upon two factors:

• The engineering and manufacturing cost of producing a reliable launch system
• The size and timing of the revenue streams from such a consumer market

The engineering aspect of the problem has been assessed by many different individuals and organizations. A growing number of these groups are beginning to realize that a low cost launch system may be viable with current technologies. Many of these systems are now under consideration. For example, the McDonnell Douglas - Delta Clipper was an excellent prototype vehicle that was able to demonstrate several key technological issues and demonstrate successfully that low cost launch systems are achievable. That vehicle, powered by four rocket engines was operated and flown by a team of only three people. Projections of launch costs for some of these new launch systems have been made as low as $US 100 per kilogram to low earth orbit.

The business aspect of the "space tourism" problem has to address questions such as:

• How much is the general population willing to pay for a trip to space?
• How often would they like to go on such a trip?

These questions need to be answered so that investors can be convinced of a project's potential success.

Surprisingly with the large amount of money that has been spent on spacecraft development, little work has been conducted with respect to evaluating the market for space travel. This internet page is the result of a sample project that has been set up for the purpose of collecting preliminary information on society's general interest in space tourism. Although the data that is collected from an internet site, such as this, is more or less useless in terms of making market estimations, it is still a good way to raise awareness and gather interest in the topic.

Whether or not you are interested in the concept of space travel or space tourism, please take a minute to complete the survey that has been provided. I appreciate your help. Be a part of the:

Space Tourism Survey

If you have any questions or comments pertaining to this site, please feel free to send an Email. This page and survey were put together by Richard Stockmans, an International MBA student at York University in Toronto,Canada.

For further information on, please visit the web sites listed in the Menu.