Space tourism could be the next big thing. The
prospect of safe and affordable travel into space is one that excites many
people. People have always desired to visit exotic locations, and what could be
more exotic than a whole other planet or looking back down onto the Earth.

One main problem about Space Tourism is that it is
too expensive to get there. Mainly due to launch vehicles being expendable. Currently,
the only vehicles that can take you into space are the space shuttle and the
Russian Soyuz, both of which are terribly inefficient. Each spacecraft requires
millions of pounds of propellant to take off into space, which makes them
expensive to launch. One pound of payload costs about $10,000 to put into Earth
orbit.
A number of companies are now working diligently on
their aircraft so that they can send space tourists into low earth orbit within
the next year or two. Richard Branson has confirmed that his company will
commence with space tourism. You can see a clip of Richard Branson talking about
his new launch with Virgin Galactic.
Therefore once it does become a commercial service
the next question is how to afford a ticket. The price for a seat with Virgin
Galatic are seen below:
Pioneer Astronaut
– The Earliest Available Seat
Deposit - US$200k full payment up front
Our most popular reservation and nearly sold out
Join the community of over 500 future astronauts
Secure one of the last remaining seats among the
first 500 to fly
Expect to be among the first 1000 humans to have
travelled to space
Priority access to Galactic events, milestones and
trips
Pioneer welcome and confirmation package
Guarantee the price of $200k for your spaceflight
Voyager Astronaut
– Join the Waiting List for a Later Seat
Deposit - $20k
Join the community of over 500
future astronauts
Secure a spot on the waiting list after the first
500 to fly
Take part in the Galactic milestones, events and
trips
Voyager welcome and confirmation package
Guarantee the price of $200k for your spaceflight
Spaceship Charter
$1 million
An exclusive spaceflight for you and up
to 5 friends
Pioneer status for all 6 seats
6 seats for the price of 5
Where will people stay once in space? The Hilton
Hotels has shown interest in the space tourism industry and the possibility of
building or co-funding a space hotel. However, the company did say that it
believes such a space hotel is 15 to 20 years away.
Therefore within the next 20 years, space planes
could be taking off for another planet or the Moon, at the same frequency as airplanes
flying on Earth.
No comments:
Post a Comment