“Buddy, can you spare $55 million?” Granted, inflation has changed the value of a dollar in the ninety-plus years since the Great Depression. But so also have our expectations about what money can buy.
Yesteryear’s millionaires have given way to today’s billionaires. And as their fortunes have grown, so have their proclivities for ever more unique — and expensive — ways to spend their leisure time and their money. Since April 28, 2001, when Dennis Tito became the first private citizen to pay for the novelty of going to space, close to sixty have paid — or been gifted by third parties — the experience.
But not to worry, the merely rich will not be left behind. Later this month, the paltry sum of $450,000 will secure a seat in Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 01 to the edge of the atmosphere, and a view from fifty-five miles above the Earth.
There is an upside to all this conspicuous consumption. Space tourism is funding the growth of commercial aerospace development in general. The day is coming when rank-and-file wage earners will participate, too, as service providers on the tourism side, as lab and computer techs for zero-g manufacturing, and as extraterrestrial miners and resource extractors.
Here on terra firma, there are two primary classes of firms we deal with in the tourism industry. Builders, those who manufacture the facilities we use, and fixers, those who book our experiences in them. Those who provide cruise ships, hotels and aircraft are builders, although antitrust action by world governments has separated the airlines from the airplane manufacturers. Tour companies or apps like Expedia.com are today’s fixers. And yes, I know there’s some crossover out there. As we shall see, the same applies to space tourism. So let’s dive in, in alphabetical order.
Axiom Space (a fixer) was the first company to organize an orbital package to the International Space Station (ISS). On April 8, 2022, SpaceX launched three space tourists who paid $55 million apiece. The Crew Dragon spacecraft was commanded by Axiom’s commander, retired NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría. The mission, labeled AX-1, was the first to send multiple tourists to the ISS.
Based on lessons learned on AX-1, NASA issued new requirements on August 3, 2022, mandating that future officially sanctioned Private Astronaut Missions (PAMs) to the International Space Station must be led by a former NASA astronaut as the mission commander, plus additional measures to reduce stress on ISS staff and ground support.
Its second ISS space tourist mission, AX-2 safely splashed down on May 30, 2023, commanded by retired NASA astronaut Peggy Whitson.
Blue Origin (a builder) is locked in a heated competition for short duration suborbital rides above the Kármán Line(sixty-two miles), the generally accepted boundary of space. The first New Shepard commercial flight included Jeff Bezos on July 20, 2021, reaching an altitude of sixty-six miles. Six flights bearing six passengers each have occurred to date. Blue Origin typically charges $200,000 to $300,000 per person. This cost includes a one-hour flight and a three-hour preparation program.
Space Adventures (a fixer) was founded in 1998. Its packages include zero-gravity atmospheric flights and orbital spaceflights.
On April 28, 2001, the company sent Dennis Tito on a trip to the International Space Station, via a Soyuz spacecraft. He spent eight days there. The cost of that inaugural flight? $20 million, a bargain compared to the $55 million that seems to be today’s going rate. To date, Space Adventures has organized nine such Soyez flights to the ISS.
The company’s most recent expedition included Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant, Yozo Hirano. Maezawa promoted the trip as personal training for a future circumlunar flight.
SpaceX (a builder) launched Axiom Mission 1 (AX-1) for Axiom Space on April 8, 2022. Three space tourists under the command of retired NASA astronaut Michael López-Alegría flew to the ISS on a Crew Dragon spacecraft. Ax-1 was the first mission to send multiple space tourists there.
The Crew Dragon seats up to seven passengers. NASA’s contract pays SpaceX to shuttle four astronauts per flight to the ISS, leaving open the possibility of mixed agency and private crews.
Virgin Galactic (a builder) competes most directly with Blue Origin in the suborbital space tourism market. The VSS
Unity completed a successful test flight with four passengers on July 11, 2021, to an altitude of nearly ninety kilometers (fifty-six miles). The company flew its second and final test flight in May of this year. As I noted earlier in this feature, Virgin Galactic flights are $450,000 per passenger.
Unique to this company, Virgin’s spacecraft are launched at 50,000 feet from a mothership. They operate more like a space shuttle, steering and gliding to their landings. Blue Origin relies on space capsules that return and land via parachute.
What does the future hold for space tourism? Again, in alphabetical order:
Axiom Space (as a builder, not a fixer), in collaboration with Thales Alenia Space has begun construction of Axiom Station, a commercial space station destined to replace and augment ISS capabilities after it retires in 2030. Axiom Space is preparing for a 2025 launch of the first section of its low-Earth orbit station.
Axiom Station will host people, research and manufacturing for numerous industries using techniques restricted to microgravity. The orbital facility will also allow private companies and national governments to continue the research and development currently only available on the ISS. Expect an increase in tourist-related activities, as Axiom Station will be owned and operated privately.
In addition to New Shepard suborbital flights, Blue Origin will offer orbital launch services ranging from $50 million to $100million per person.
The company’s Blue Moon lander was recently selected by NASA for the uncrewed demonstration Artemis V lunar mission set for 2029. Expect to see privately funded lunar missions, including tourist flights. But to do so, Blue Origin will have to purchase the services of a larger booster like NASA’s SLS or SpaceX’s Super Heavy.
Boeing’s (a builder) Starliner capsule is being developed as part of the NASA's Commercial Crew Program, competing directly with SpaceX. The spacecraft are owned and operated by the vendor, and crew transportation is provided to the space agency as a service. The required capacity is up to seven astronauts, though the contract covers four per flight. Operational flights occur approximately once every six months for missions of the same length. The vessel remains docked to the ISS during its mission, and missions usually overlap by at least a few days.
Part of Boeing’s agreement with NASA allows Boeing to sell seats for tourists. The agency will likely remit about $90 million for each astronaut who flies aboard the Starliner capsule on International Space Station missions. Expect a tourist to pay a similar rate.
Boeing is also participating in Orbital Reef, another commercial space station for low Earth orbit. Station partners are Blue Origin, Sierra Space, Boeing, Redwire Space, Genesis Engineering Solutions, and Arizona State University. The station is expected to be operational by 2027. Like the Axiom Station, expect to see a tourism component to Orbital Reef’s operations.
Space Adventures Ltd. (a fixer) proposed in 2005 Deep Space Expedition Alpha (DSE-Alpha), a circumlunar mission to the Moon. It employs a modified Soyuz capsule docking with a booster rocket in Earth orbit which circles around the moon once, then returns to Earth. The price was originally set at $100 million per seat, but in January 2011 one of the two available seats was sold for $150 million. In the meantime, the company may have switched to the SLS & Boeing Starliner. The vessel is prominently featured on Space Adventure’s website for ISS trips.
SpaceX (a builder) revealed in September 2018 that Yusaku Maezawa intended to use Starship for his Dear Moon project, a lunar tourism mission and art project. Conceived and financed by the Japanese billionaire the mission will take six to eight artists with him on the journey, inspiring them to create new works. He reportedly paid $80 million, likely for his own seat, possibly as a deposit for the entire group.
A second mission with a similar flight profile is planned to follow, with first space tourist, Dennis Tito, and his wife Akiko Tito as two of the passengers. It may be significant that both of SpaceX’s declared lunar tourists are Space Adventures veterans. In February 2020, the two companies announced an agreement to provide private missions to the ISS using the Crew Dragon capsule.
SpaceX is contracted by NASA to demonstrate an initial human landing system for the Artemis III mission. Under that contract, the agency also required SpaceX to evolve its design to meet the agency’s requirements for sustainable exploration and to test the lander on Artemis IV. When not engaged with the space agency, I expect lunar landing tourist missions, possibly in conjunction with other paying commercial payloads and passengers.
Virgin Galactic (builder) will launch Galactic 01 later this month. The spacecraft will carry two pilots plus up to six passengers. Virgin Galactic will fly once per month after operations begin, with a long-range goal of weekly flights.
For the time being, folks like you and me won't be able to afford the view offered by the ISS at 254 miles, or even a flight to fifty-five miles. But fifteen years from now, the cost of a suborbital experience will fall to the tens- — as opposed to the hundreds-of-thousands of dollars. Plus, as commercial space stations proliferate — I noted above at least two with sufficient funding to be in orbit by 2030 — cabin space will be devoted to accommodating space tourists. And with that kind of investment will come staff dedicated to servicing those visitors.
The day will come in the not-so-distant future that returning college students will brag about their summer stint at the Orbital Hilton. Working at Yellowstone lodge will always have that certain cache’, but really, how will you top working as a maid or a cook in orbit? Sign me up, Scottie!
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Want a deeper dive? Check out these sources, listed in the order of discussion.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_tourismhttps://www.axiomspace.com/https://www.blueorigin.com/https://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/launch/index.htmlhttps://spaceadventures.com/https://www.spacex.com/human-spaceflight/https://www.virgingalactic.com/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/nasa-former-astronaut-chaperone-space-iss-private-mission/ 
