Space Tourism: It’s Your Turn to Be the Astronaut

It is about five decades since the first person, Neil Armstrong, went to the moon and came back. Now, can you imagine yourself on space, but of course on a comfier, more advanced craft than Apollo 1? 

That is no longer a myth – space tourism is already happening, and you can book your place. Here, we are going to tell you about companies ready to take you to the space. It will be one fine ride! 

A Brief about Past Space Tourists 

Before we can look at where you can book your place for the next travel to space, it is important to answer the question: “What was the past tourists’ experience?”

The first space tourist to visit space was Dennis Tito, an American businessman who spent eight awesome days away from the earth’s atmosphere. 

At first, Tito wanted to use NASA, but the organization declined. So Space Adventures approached Roscosmos, a Russian agency that got Tito a seat in a Soyuz. 

After Tito, other six tourists have toured the outer space (and certainly made great videos). Now, the growing number of interested tourists has seen more companies move in to launch their own space programs. 

Top Space Tourism Companies

Virgin Galactic 

Virgin Galactic aims to take space tourists on unique suborbital flights in its two SpaceShipTwo crafts.

The program was started by Sir Richard Branson in 2004. Unlike other space crafts that launch from the ground, the spacecrafts in Virgin Galactic will be launched from an aircraft. 

Note that unlike Soyuz that allowed Tito to take more than one week, SpaceShipTwo will only take a short moment in space.

This is why the cost of its tickets is also cheaper, about $250,000 per person. 

Orion Span 

Orion Span has taken the idea of space tourism a notch higher and it is referring itself as the first space hotel.

Using the latest proprietary technology, Orion Span targets to build two private suites that will allow a maximum of four guests and two crew for a single stay. For a 12-day mission, every guest will pay $9.5 million and will require 24-months of training. 

Space Adventures

Space Adventures gained huge praise after successfully organizing the first seven space tourists.

Although no new guests have been sent to space since 2009, their experience is worth counting on.

Note that Space Adventures does not have its own spacecrafts. Instead, they partner with other agencies such as Roscosmos to take guests to space using Soyuz. 

These are just a few companies you can book your space with right away. Others include Roscosmos, KosmoKurs, and Axiom Space. So, if you want to travel to space, the time is nigh.