Space Tourism

Defined as the lifting of paying passengers beyond Earth's atmosphere for essentially recreational purposes, commercial space tourism essentially began in 2001 with the trip of a U.S. financial entrepreneur aboard a Russian Soyuz and has since been dominated by companies including Axiom Space, Blue Origin, SpaceX, and (until March 2023) Virgin Galactic.

And for good measure, we're throwing in ground-based space tourism in places like Toulouse, France; Cape Kennedy/Canaveral, Florida; Huntsville, Alabama, even French Guiana.

And we have...lift off!

Cover photo: Gzzz

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Is 2121 finally the year space tourism gets normalized?

Blue Origin Bezos, Branson, Musk, Shatner, Russian film crews - things are happening fast and furious up in the final frontier this year. The journal The Space Review takes an overview look.

XCOR went Bankrupt in 2017

My story is that I was one of the original travel agents interested in selling the Lynx. It was difficult. The price was lower than Virgin Galactic and the idea was novel. I didn't have clientele interested in that type of extreme adventure. About a year after the XCOR launch, they released my contract for no sales. It seemed that they also didn't have a marketing team. I am sure I have the original brochure somewhere. then again, I might have put it in the recycle bin. I still have…

Rocketship Tours renamed XCOR

Space Expedition Corporation has now officially taken over workdwide sales of XCOR. XCOR is an Aerospace corporation founded in 1999 based in California based in the Mojave Desert. They produce reliable, reusable launch vehicles that will be able to take us into space.

Comments

Riccardo R July 2, 2025 at 9:12am

A look at "near space" tourism - the cheapest way so far to have an "out-of-this-world" experience - a mere $164,000! https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/16/travel/halo-space-near-space-bal...

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/16/travel/halo-space-near-space-balloon-trip?cid=ios_app
Wendy Capra December 28, 2024 at 9:46pm

It isn´t QUITE "space tourism," but it´s up there - and a whole lot cheaper! https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/16/travel/halo-space-near-space-bal...

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/04/16/travel/halo-space-near-space-balloon-trip/index.html
Dave Acton January 20, 2024 at 12:58pm

I´d always thought of space travel in general as not particularly environmentally friendly - apart from the fact that it could be laying the groundwork for finding another planet to escape to after we´ve destroyed the environment of this one. But I was intrigued by what this company is doing in the area of relatively "eco-friendly" space tourism: https://www.afar.com/magazine/space-perspective-the-company-making-...

The Promise and Peril of Space Tourism

A space tourism industry is being built on the proposition of personal and existential transformation. But at what cost?
José Balido September 15, 2023 at 10:11am

London based financial tech website Techbullion.com recent published a good overview about the present and future of space tourism: https://techbullion.com/space-tourism-and-beyond-what-lies-ahead-fo...
John Kipper August 14, 2023 at 4:44pm

The BBC then also followed up on the Virgin Galactic flight with a video piece including some pretty cool shots! https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-us-canada-66470128

On board Virgin Galactic's tourist journey to space

A look inside the company's first space tourism flight, which took off from New Mexico on Thursday.
John Kipper August 12, 2023 at 3:53pm

Nice! https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-66468628

Virgin Galactic: First space tourism mission after decades of promises

Keisha Schahaff and UK student Ana Mayers become the first mother-daughter duo to travel to the edge of space.
Jordan Simon April 4, 2023 at 12:06pm

Welp, looks like a bit of a setback for space tourism - at least in one corner of the industry. I guess we should've known it would have its ups and downs: https://www.forbes.com/sites/brianbushard/2023/03/30/bransons-virgi...

Branson’s Virgin Orbit Reportedly Ceases Operations For ‘Foreseeable Future’ After Failing To Secur…

Virgin Orbit had furloughed nearly its entire workforce earlier this month as it worked to shore up cash.
David Paul Appell July 1, 2022 at 12:29pm

Just caught this in Salon, and I daresay it's a no-brainer: https://www.salon.com/2022/06/29/elon-musk-space-tourism-climate-ch...

Elon Musk makes climate change worse: A new study confirms space tourism is destroying the planet

Elon Musk has depicted himself as a foe of climate change, but a new study undermines that claim
Jeffrey Kunst April 26, 2022 at 9:49am

Space tourism picking up the pace in 2022 with another milestone, as three billionaire space tourists return this week from a paid NASA ride to/from International Space Station: https://www.theguardian.com/science/2022/apr/25/international-space...

Star trek: three rich men return from Nasa’s first foray into space tourism | Nasa | The Guardian

This was the first time Nasa opened its space hatches to tourists, who paid $55m for a week, which was extended to nearly 17 days
Max Pesling February 22, 2022 at 12:15pm

About a week ago, Virgin Galactic opened general online registration for its first commercial orbital flights, slated to start late this year. Got $450K lying around? Check out the details here: https://www.afar.com/magazine/how-to-book-a-virgin-galactic-space-f...

You Can Now Book a Ticket to Outer Space

Virgin Galactic reopened online registration in February 2022 for its first commercial flights beyond the Earth’s atmosphere. Tickets are from $450,0…