Space Tourism

[Yazata]

If you are going to travel, go somewhere exotic! Don't fart around with another trip to increasingly sordid Paris.

A company called Space Adventures (founded in part by Peter Diamandis, the X-Prize guy) announced yesterday that they have signed an agreement with SpaceX to fly four paying customers at a time to and from Earth-orbit in Crew Dragons, starting late 2021. I don't believe that these flights will include a visit to the Space Station.

https://twitter.com/SpaceAdventures/stat...5115600896

https://spaceadventures.com/space-advent...pacecraft/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_conti...e=emb_logo

https://spacenews.com/space-adventures-t...n-mission/

I believe that the Dragon will be flying in fully autonomous mode, like DM-1 when it delivered Ripley and Little Earth to the Space Station. (Neither of those two individuals was manually flying it.) SpaceX is rather confident about the mission software, since the Cargo Dragons have long been using a version of it without mishap.

Space Adventures is a real company with a track record. They are the ones who arranged private individuals to fly on Soyuz's to the Space Station. There have been seven of those tourists, on eight flights (one went twice).

I have no idea what it will cost, but it won't be cheap.

[Yazata]

A Houston startup called Axiom Space has closed a deal with SpaceX to launch three space tourists to the International Space Station in late 2021 for a ten day mission. The fourth seat will carry a professional astronaut from Axiom who will serve as the mission commander. (Axiom's CEO is ex-NASA.) No word on how much it will cost the three space tourists. NASA is expected to pay $55 million/seat for its own Commercial Crew seats. (The Russians currently want closer to $100 million for rides on their funky Soyuz.)  

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/05/spacex-a...-2021.html

[C C]

A Houston startup called Axiom Space has closed a deal with SpaceX to launch three space tourists to the International Space Station in late 2021 for a ten day mission. The fourth seat will carry a professional astronaut from Axiom who will serve as the mission commander. (Axiom's CEO is ex-NASA.) No word on how much it will cost the three space tourists. NASA is expected to pay $55 million/seat for its own Commercial Crew seats. (The Russians currently want closer to $100 million for rides on their funky Soyuz.)  

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/05/spacex-a...-2021.html

ISS does make a more attractive package, an actual destination.

With respect to the former company, the wealthy could probably custom-manufacture themselves a hyper-realistic simulator for the price (possibly even the feel of g-forces), and go multiple times. But, there's that rush from knowing that they could die -- along with tentatively allowing them to float in the capsule? As the old Coke ad goes: "It's the real thing."

https://www.youtube-nocookie.com/embed/ZG9ip5ZOO9s