Space Tourism

Virgin Galactic mothership debuts at AirVenture

By Michael Mulcahy

07:38 July 29, 2009 PDT

If Richard Branson turns up somewhere, you can be fairly certain there’ll be a photo opportunity attached. But Branson’s appearance on Monday at EAA Airventure, the world’s largest private air show, was much more than a PR stunt. It also marked the first public flight of Virgin Galactic’s “Mothership” Eve, and signaled space tourism is now closer than ever. Read More

Virgin Galactic and the start of the Commercial Space Race

By Loz Blain

04:41 July 6, 2009 PDT

Space - it's the final frontier of human exploration, a mysterious eternity of distance, all around us and yet so tantalizingly out of reach. In its dark recesses hide the secrets of extraterrestrial life, planets yet to be explored, and it's reasonable to assume, some sort of future home for the human race once we're finished stuffing this planet up. Although mankind has been fascinated with space since we first saw the twinkling of night-time stars, it's only in the last half century that we have developed spaceships that allow us to take both ourselves and our equipment and technology outside the Earth's atmosphere. While the exhilaration of early space exploration seems to have faded in the public imagination over the past three decades, the scene is now set for a whole new space race. Loz Blain looks at where the 21st Century space Odyssey will take us and how we'll get there. Listen to the Podcast or Read More

Virgin Galactic space tourism project rockets along

By Darren Quick

00:10 May 29, 2009 PDT

Commercial sub-orbital spaceflight has taken another step towards reality with Virgin Galactic announcing the completion of phase one testing on the rocket motor that will propel SpaceShipTwo into suborbital space. The Virgin Galactic project to provide sub-orbital spaceflights to the paying public will also act as a stepping stone to the company’s plans for future orbital flights and will almost certainly lead to a dramatic decrease in long haul international flight times – a couple of hours from Sydney to London anyone? Read More

WhiteKnightTwo completes historic maiden flight

By Noel McKeegan

17:37 December 22, 2008 PST

WhiteKnightTwo (WK2), the carrier aircraft that will become the launch platform for Virgin Galactic's sub-orbital spaceline has taken to the skies over California in its maiden test flight. Powered by four Pratt and Whitney PW308A turbofan engines, the mammoth, 140-foot wingspan carbon composite aircraft launched from the Mojave Air and Space Port on Sunday morning and completed an hour long test flight without a hitch. Read More

Richard Garriott enters private astronaut club

By Emily Clark

02:43 October 14, 2008 PDT

Millionaire video game designer Richard Garriott has made history by becoming the world’s first second-generation American astronaut to set off into outer space. Unlike his NASA astronaut father, Owen Garriott, Richard has made his journey courtesy of space tourism provider, Space Adventures. Read More

Thirty-eight people make reservations for space hotel

By Jude Garvey

06:52 August 22, 2008 PDT

Thirty eight travelers have made reservations to be the first guests on the Galactic Suite space hotel. The four day vacation will take passengers to a distance of 300 miles (450 kilometers) from the earth at a cost of €3 million (USD$4.46 million). Read More

SpaceShipTwo mothership revealed

By Noel McKeegan

12:19 August 4, 2008 PDT

Virgin Galactic has achieved another milestone in its push to become the world’s first private commercial spaceline with the unveiling of the WhiteKnightTwo (WK2) carrier aircraft. Built at the Scaled Composites facility in Mojave, California, the twin fuselage WK2 is a formidable engineering feat. It is the world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft and the main wing, which spans 140 ft, is the longest single carbon composite aviation component ever built. Christened “EVE” in honor of Sir Richard Branson's mother, the aircraft can can fly across the US non-stop and reach altitudes of 50,000 ft - the height from which SpaceShipTwo (SS2) will be air launched. Read More

Google co-founder joins space tourism club

By Noel McKeegan

22:20 June 11, 2008 PDT

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has forked out a US$5 million deposit to reserve a seat on future orbital spaceflights and join the select group of private space tourists. Space Adventures, the company that helped Dennis Tito become the world’s first private astronaut in 2001, has also announced an agreement with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA) to launch a dedicated mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2011. Read More

The Lynx: new player enters space-tourism race

By Noel McKeegan

22:46 March 27, 2008 PDT

March 28, 2008 Back in 2001 Californian millionaire Denis Tito made headlines as the worlds' first space tourist - shelling out around US$20 million for the privilege. Seven years on, the competition to offer such an out-of-this-world experience to a broader range of paying customers (and capitalize on what is expected to become a market worth hundreds of millions of dollars over the next decade) is heating up. Earlier this year fledgling spaceline Virgin Galactic revealed designs for what will become its flagship -SpaceShipTwo, now Californian based XCOR Aerospace has unveiled a two-seater suborbital spaceship the size of a small private plane that the company expects to have airborne in 2010. Read More

SpaceShipTwo heading for 2008 test flight

By Noel McKeegan

22:08 February 3, 2008 PST

February 4, 2008 The era of private space travel is another step closer to reality with Virgin Galactic revealing designs for the craft set to become the flagship of the world's first spaceline. Based on SpaceShipOne, which claimed the $10 million Ansari X Prize in October 2004 by successfully becoming the first private manned spacecraft to exceed an altitude of 328,000 feet twice within the span of a 14 day period, SpaceShipTwo and its carrier aircraft WhiteKnightTwo are now approaching completion at Scaled Composites in Mojave, California. Flight testing set to get underway towards the middle of this year for what will be the world’s largest all carbon composite aircraft, capable of carrying eight astronauts or other payloads into sub-orbital space. Read More

Hypersonic civil aviation: Sydney to Brussels in four hours

By Shaun McKeegan

15:06 August 29, 2007 PDT

August 30, 2007 Imagine long-distance air-travel that could get you to the other side of the globe in less than a quarter of the time it presently takes? Researchers from Reaction Engines, a company created for design and development of advanced space transport and propulsion systems, are investigating the possibility of hypersonic civil transport in a three year study to examine the feasibility of reducing long-distance flights (e.g. from Brussels to Sydney) to less than 4 hours. Read More

Elevator: 2010 - a space race for the whole family

By Kyle Sherer

17:13 August 4, 2007 PDT

August 5, 2007 Almost 40 years after it ended, the Spaceward Foundation is reigniting the space race with the third annual Elevator: 2010 competition. Part of the “Spaceward Games” taking place on October 19-21 near Salt Lake City, the competition is open to any family, school or adult and this year allows participants to compete in more events including the first inaugural Light Racer challenge. The tournament aims to bring attention to the viability of far-reaching space exploration concepts and requires competitors to build beam powered lunar buggies and beam powered cable “climbers”. But the machines aren’t the only thing ascending rapidly in the name of scientific advancement; the total prize money this year has skyrocketed to US$1 million. Read More

Charles in space: Hungarian space tourist loving the view from the International Space Station

By Loz Blain

April 16, 2007 Billionaire Charles Simonyi, the 5th civilian space traveller ever, has now completed more than a week of his 13-day space journey. He's currently enjoying zero gravity on board the International Space Station (ISS) with its current long-term crew Michael Lopez-Alegria and Sunita Williams. Private space tourism is taking off as an industry - even with trips like this costing around US$20 million, tour organiser Space Adventures is almost fully booked until 2009. Read More

A walk in space – yours for just US$35 million

By Mike Hanlon

July 23, 2006 Until now, the most expensive holiday you could have was to buy a US$20 million ticket from Space Adventures for a 10-day spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS) which includes six months of cosmonaut training. Now a US$15 million option has been added to the package which includes a walk in space during your stay aboard the ISS. Also known as an extra-vehicular activity (EVA), those clients interested in the spacewalk option have the availability to spend up to 1.5 hours outside of the space station. The addition of a spacewalk lengthens the mission approximately six to eight days and candidates are required to participate in a month of EVA simulations and specialized training sessions, in addition to meeting the medical and physical requirements, familiarizing themselves with the Russian Soyuz TMA spacecraft and learning how to live aboard the ISS. It’s your opportunity to go one-up on Californian millionaire Denis Tito (the first paying customer of Space Adventures in mid 2001), South African technology millionaire Mark Shuttleworth, American technology entrepreneur Greg Olsen who have all experienced space flight as private citizens, and Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke Enomoto (Dice-K) who will become the fourth space tourist this coming September. Read More

Space Adventures announces Spaceport for Singapore

By Mike Hanlon

February 21, 2006 Space Adventures, together with a Singapore-based consortium, announced today that it plans to develop an integrated spaceport in Singapore that will offer suborbital spaceflights, as well as operate astronaut training facilities and a public education and interactive visitor center. It is the second spaceport announced by Space Adventures in the last week, the other to be located in Dubai. The focal point of the proposed Spaceport Singapore will be suborbital spaceflights. As each suborbital vehicle reaches its maximum altitude of 100 kilometers, passengers will experience up to five minutes of continuous weightlessness, all the while gazing at the blackness of space set against the horizon of Earth. The spaceport will be build in the near vicinity of Changi Airport. Read More

Space Adventures announces Spaceport development project in UAE

By Mike Hanlon

February 18, 2006 Space Adventures today announced plans to develop a commercial spaceport in Ras Al-Khaimah (the UAE), with plans to expand globally. Other potential spaceport locations include Asia, specifically Singapore, and North America. The total estimated cost of the global spaceport development project is claimed to be at least US$265 million and will be funded by various parties, along with shared investments by Space Adventures and the government of Ras Al-Khaimah. The company, which organized orbital flights for all of the world's private space explorers, also announces that His Highness Sheikh Saud Bin Saqr Al Qasimi of Ras Al-Khaimah, along with the UAE Department of Civilian Aviation, have granted clearance to operate suborbital spaceflights in their air space. Read More

Space tourism industry could be cleared to fly passengers by 2008

By Mike Hanlon

February 16, 2006 The sunrise industry of Space tourism has already demonstrated how lucrative it could become with the prices rumoured to have been paid by the first three space tourists. Californian millionaire Denis Tito became the first paying customer of Space Adventures in mid 2001 parting with an unconfirmed US$20 million and similar numbers were bandied around for 28 year old South African technology millionaire Mark Shuttleworth, and American technology entrepreneur Greg Olsen who returned from the International Space Station in October, 2005. Hong Kong resident and Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke Enomoto (Dice-K) will become the fourth space tourist this coming October, but while the number of spare seats available at the International Space Station remain extremely limited, the laws of supply and demand will ensure that space remains the domain of paid astronauts and the privileged super-wealthy. Hope is however at hand, as the United States Secretary of Transportation Norman Y. Mineta has announced that commercial space craft could be cleared to carry passengers by as early as 2008. Speaking to a group of space entrepreneurs, the Secretary said that a number of companies should be set to take passengers into space and that the U.S. Department of Transportation would be ready to clear these flights within two years. Read More

Space Adventurer Greg Olsen successfully launches to the International Space Station

By Mike Hanlon

Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan – October 2, 2005 American technology entrepreneur Greg Olsen and his Soyuz TMA-7 crew successfully launched to the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan here yesterday. Dr. Olsen joins the Expedition 12 crew for his eight-day mission at the space station. Prior to the launch, Olsen said, “this will undoubtedly be one of my greatest life accomplishments and I look forward in sharing my experience while in space and when I return. Hard work and determination has led me to where I am today and I encourage today’s youth to dream big. If I can do it, so can you!” Read More

Space Adventures to build a Sub-Orbital Spaceport

By Mike Hanlon

Space Adventures, the world's leading space tourism company, is currently exploring several locations around the world for construction of a space tourism spaceport. Sites are being considered in Australia, The Bahamas, Florida, Japan, Malaysia, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Singapore and Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. Operations at the spaceport will include sub-orbital flights, a space flight training centre and other activities. The next generation spacecraft vehicles that will be used for the sub-orbital flights are now being tested. Space Adventures is the marketing and experience operations partner for several of theleading space vehicle manufacturing companies and has already taken over 100 seat reservations for explorers from around the world. Read More

Space Tourism to resume at US $20 million per ticket

By Mike Hanlon

Space tourism is on the road to recovery with civilians - or at least the select few who can afford the price tag and the physical demands of space travel - expected to be part of tourist flights to the International Space Station in 2004 or 2005. US company Space Adventures and the Russian Aviation and Space Agency recently announced an agreement to secure the two seats aboard a Soyuz rocket, the first such move since a moratorium on space tourism was imposed after the Columbia shuttle disaster. Read More

Holiday in Outer Space

By Mike Hanlon

The rooms are cramped to the point of extreme discomfort, the food isn't fresh, you can't choose your roommate, if you step outside you'll find the environment downright hostile and it's the most expensive holiday you can dream of... it's a holiday in outer space. With the world's second ever space tourist - 28 year old South African technology millionaire Mark Shuttleworth - entering orbit last month, it's already clear that the next great space race will not be driven by a grab for technological supremacy or even national pride, but by the strength of the almighty tourist dollar. Read More