Space tourism is travel for recreational purposes that has few different types: orbital, suborbital, and lunar. Global space tourism is another branch that will grow to $1.7 billion up to 2027. Space tourism will make space for new jobs. Twenty years of hard work and dreams finally paid off; Jeff Bezos and Blue Origin made it happen this year. First tourists visited space this year!
First Space Tourist Dennis Tito
He was an aerospace engineer in NASA and then moved to finance and first space tourist ever. His knowledge from various fields gave him a different perspective in financial mathematics. As quoted, his company has investment technology, a « comprehensive multi-currency performance measurement solution based on GIPS-approved calculation methodologies, which supports the full range of investment instruments. » This step might be the part of the success that made it possible for Tito to go to space. Tito got to outer space on April 28, 2001. His dream come true (ISS) on the supply mission on the Soyuz TM 32 to International Space Station was his dream come true (ISS). He spends eight days on ISS.
Richard Branson
Virgin Galactic and its founder Richard Branson funded and developed a spaceplane. He’s known for his entrepreneurship and investments, from 23andMe DNA testing technology to buying a Hard Rock Las Vegas hotel and Casino in, well, Las Vegas. For the latter, you would have thought that he would go for sometimes Internet-based, like online casino Canada, but he’s still a part old school investor after all.
Anyhow, his spaceplane has four members of the crew, including Richard Branson, on July 11, 2021. Space Ship Two is a winged plane with a single rocket motor. It was attached to the twin mothership White Knight Two. Space ship detached from the mothership and gave passengers an experience of 3Gs force. Branson’s flight was 90 minutes long and made 86 km. Branson was floating in microgravity and send an important message on Twitter from a space rocket. Quoted: « To you kids out there — I was once a child with a dream, looking up to the stars. Now I’m an adult in a spaceship. If we can do this, just imagine what you can do, »
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos and his company Blue Origin made a trip to space on July 20, 2021. just nine days after Richard Branson. His journey to the edge of outer space was on the New Shepard reusable launch vehicle. Jeff Bezos took a colourful crew with him, his brother, Wally Funk aviation pioneer, and student Oliver Daemen. Oliver is the youngest person that was in the space. How he got there? Previously, Bezos set an auction for one seat in the launcher, but the auction winner couldn’t go. So he picked the son of one of his colleagues and runner-up in the auction to participate. Bezos flight was 11 minutes long and made 100 km into space.
Space tourism is something that still has space for improvement. In the future, Virgin Galactica will offer missions to ISS. For now, the price is 6.8 million a day. In addition, day supplies in food and drinks on ISS cost 2000$ per crew member. We will wait sometime before it becomes commercial and at an affordable price.
Until then, it is for millionaires or jackpot winners who love space, and we can enjoy video footage and inspirational stories from space travellers.
Author: Ika