Travelling to space was always a dream of mine. I was one of those kids that hoped to be an astronaut and ride a rocket through the atmosphere to orbit the Earth while experiencing zero gravity. It has not happened yet, but I am hopeful.
If I am willing to pay $200,000 today, I can secure my seat on one of the first commercial space tourist flights. Space tourism is set to be the next ‘just gotta do” experience.
Virgin Galactic is perhaps the best prepared operator to begin ferrying amateur astronauts into the sub-orbital regions of space.
The Experience
The experience will be phenomenal. The rocket spacecraft piggybacks on a jet airplane, which takes the astronauts up to 50,000 feet. The rocket then separates from the jet and propels the crew at 4 times the speed of sound to 70,000 feet.
It is here that the blue of the Earth’s atmosphere fades away to the black of space, and weightlessness can be experienced. The spacecraft then gently falls back through the atmosphere.
The entire journey with Virgin Galactic lasts 3 1/2 hours, most of which you will be attached to the jet plane booster. The final rocket blast will be relatively brief, and the experience of weightlessness will last around 6 minutes.
The Cost
The $200,000 price is significant, and definitely only within reach of the wealthiest among us. But this is not a mass transit exercise. There will be less than 10 seats available to paying customers on each flight, for now.
An income of $245,000 was required to be classified in the top 5% in the U.S. in 2007. This is the target audience for the first era of commercial space flight. Sir Richard Branson believes the costs will fall rapidly, and become accessible to many more people. He claims that eventually the cost of a space flight will be comparable to a flight to Australia. I can’t wait for that.
Commercial aviation was exclusively for the very wealthy during the early 1900′s. It wasn’t until the 1920′s, with a surplus of aircraft from World War I, that costs became more accessible. Space tourism is set to experience its own increase of supply, as there are several competitors preparing to offer similar experiences to that of Virgin Galactic. This will drive costs lower, and make it cost-effective for more people to experience.
What’s Your Price?
At what price would you be willing to experience space tourism? It depends, is a good answer. For the right person this would be the ultimate gift, and $200,000 represents excellent value.
For the rest of us the price needs to come down to make it realistically justifiable, if at all. Today, if given the choice between a space flight or taking my family to Australia, Australia would easily win. Perhaps if I was close to death, and wanted to have one last mega-rush I would choose the space flight, and realize my childhood dreams?
How much would you pay for space tourism?
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I was wondering how much the commercial flights into space would cost just the other day actually. I think the price would have to be way lower for me, probably down in the 10-20k range. Why? Because there’s still SO many places down here on Earth that I want and have yet to see. Space must be absolutely mind blowing to experience though. I definitely wouldn’t go without my husband b/c I’d be too scared about getting stuck out there and not being able to get back!
-Sydney
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