space tourism is a waste of time and money

Space tourism: What are the pros and cons?

Space tourism has its fans — and its critics.

Private companies are offering many opportunities to make the leap off Earth , ranging from a quick suborbital hop to a multi month stay on the International Space Station (ISS). But the advent of the space tourism industry has spurred a vigorous debate: Is it helping to propel humanity to the stars , or is it just letting rich people have a little fun while providing no real value?

Here's a look at the pros and cons of space tourism.

Related: How SpaceShipOne's historic launch 20 years ago paved the way for a new space tourism era

The pros of space tourism

A handful of private individuals, colloquially known as space tourists,  managed to purchase tickets to the ISS or Russia's Mir station. However, with the end of the space shuttle program in 2011, NASA canceled any further opportunities. That picture changed with the emergence of private spaceflight companies headed by various billionaires, including Elon Musk's SpaceX , Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic .

Of the three, only Virgin Galactic has a stated long-term goal of promoting space tourism, offering quick suborbital flights just above the Kármán line — the arbitrary but internationally recognized edge of space. Paying customers can get a similar experience with Blue Origin, but that company hopes to pivot to orbital industries. With SpaceX, you can get a multiday stay in orbit, but you'll have to bid against numerous government contracts for the opportunity.

Promoters of space tourism have suggested various benefits of the industry. For example, many space tourists are actively running and participating in experiments, such as examining the effects of microgravity on human health , plant growth and material properties. This is real science that needs to be done to propel humanity to the stars.

There's also financial propulsion, with hundreds of millions of dollars of investment going into the newfound industry. Companies are developing new equipment, techniques, technologies and more so they can offer tickets to space. And the more we invest in space in general, the better off our shared ventures will be.

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The frequent launches of space tourists, including celebrities such as William Shatner , have caught the media by storm. This, in turn, fuels more public interest, which can lead to more discussion, more awareness and more funding.

The cons of space tourism

On the other hand, critics of space tourism point out that the industry is catering solely to exceptionally wealthy individuals. Ironically, this can lead to a sense of public disillusionment with space: Instead of opening it up to everyone, it might cause people to roll their eyes at the inaccessibility. Basically, it's just rich people doing rich-people things.

Because of the enormous cost of a ticket — anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars — it's hard for most people to see the value in space tourism as an industry. They simply don't get to participate in it. 

And while some space tourists have conducted experiments during their expeditions, those experiments haven't exactly been revolutionary or consisted of anything that couldn't be done by astronauts on the ISS. So space tourism isn't really advancing human spaceflight in any significant way.

Lastly, space tourism is a niche business. While some companies have developed technologies that are specific to this industry, those technologies will not necessarily transfer to other space-related activities, like industrial or scientific applications. We could be spending all this time, money and resources on a business venture that never grows significantly and never leads to anything else.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that space is hard — it's difficult to get to space, and it's difficult for humans to remain in space for any length of time. Most space tourism companies have folded well before their first attempted launch, and it's not clear that this business niche will grow all that much. Only roughly 60 people have been to space as tourists, and the vast majority of them have gone only on quick suborbital joyrides with a few minutes of weightlessness. 

There are only a few launches, at most, every year dedicated to space tourism, and a peek at planned launch schedules reveals that this number will not change much over the coming years.

— Do space tourists really understand the risk they're taking?

— The rise of space tourism could affect Earth's climate in unforeseen ways, scientists worry

— Most Americans expect routine space tourism by 2073, but few would actually try it  

Most people will never get the opportunity to become a space tourist; it will likely remain a niche industry serving a select set of very wealthy individuals. It's not a game changer in any direction. It will continue to be a component of the overall human interest in space but not a major driver of innovation or expansion.

But hey, if you're ever given the chance, go for it!

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute in New York City. Paul received his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011, and spent three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, followed by a research fellowship in Trieste, Italy, His research focuses on many diverse topics, from the emptiest regions of the universe to the earliest moments of the Big Bang to the hunt for the first stars. As an "Agent to the Stars," Paul has passionately engaged the public in science outreach for several years. He is the host of the popular "Ask a Spaceman!" podcast, author of "Your Place in the Universe" and "How to Die in Space" and he frequently appears on TV — including on The Weather Channel, for which he serves as Official Space Specialist.

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• GregB03 In its early days aviation was something that only the rich could afford to do. It took a while for it to reach prices that were affordable to the general population . It's early days for commercial space travel. Reply

GregB03 said: In its early days aviation was something that only the rich could afford to do. It took a while for it to reach prices that were affordable to the general population . It's early days for commercial space travel.

Osbert said: If these people were going someplace, I might agree with you but UP and then free-falling, is not a "destination". It's not a destination if you arrive, basically where you started from. Let's start launching people UP and over/out too actually land some place >> because they wanted to get to that/some place. Also, UP and freefall is not space travel. Far from it, lol. It's a fair/carnival ride - period. Nothing but an uncontrollable joy-ride in a tin-can - WEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

ChrisA said: The Writght brothers were not rich. Their dad was a preacher and they owned a bicycle shop. In the early days, the people in the field were skilled tradesmen. The first passenger to die was a young army officer. But later when aviation was commercialized, yes ticket prices were high

• View All 5 Comments

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Is the space effort a waste of money?

Colossal strides in civilization in the past have followed each major advance in man's observation of the skies. Astronomical discoveries, time after time, have influenced and, in some cases, shifted the very course of history.

By Gene Gregory 

As the Apollo 11 and 12 spacecraft raced toward their rendezvous with the moon last July and last November, these most ambitious of man's ventures were the focus of a sharp and lively debate back on earth about the real meaning and value of space exploration.

Twelve years had passed since the Soviet Union launched the space age by firing Sputnik I into earth orbit on October 4, 1957. The United States had spent some $44 thousand million on space programmes, $24 thousand million on the Apollo project alone. Hundreds of thousands of top scientists and technicians had been striving together in by far the largest team of specialists ever mobilized in a single undertaking.

Yet the basic question was still being asked: "Is this trip really necessary?"

Was the moon landing a pointless "stunt", however adroitly executed, or a breath-taking demonstration of man's unlimited capabilities? Would the billions allocated for space be better spent on solving pressing problems here on earth? What, in short, is there in all this running around in space for those of us who remain earthbound mortals?

Arnold J. Toynbee, the esteemed British historian, expressed the concern of many serious-minded sceptics for whom the moon landing symbolized a yawning gap between technology and morals.

"In a sense," Toynbee remonstrated, "going to the moon is like building the pyramids or Louis XIV's palace at Versailles. It's rather scandalous, when human beings are going short of necessities, to do this. If we're clever enough to reach the moon, don't we feel rather foolish in our mismanagement of human affairs?"

But others contend that there is money enough for the moon and tasks on earth, too. And some go further to point out that the conquest of space has done much, through the development of new ideas, new attitudes, new techniques and new structures for the management of large-scale undertakings, to prepare man for a major offensive against the unsolved social and material problems at home.

"If you look at the thousands of years of civilization," Sir Bernard Lovell, director of Britain's Jodrell Bank Observatory reminds us, "you will find that only those communities that have been prepared to struggle with the nearly insoluble problems at the limits of their technical capacities those are the only communities, the only times, that civilization has advanced. The Roman Empire decayed when ¡t ceased to be progressive in this sense, and there are other examples. To a certain extent, you see the beginnings of it in the United Kingdom today, but fortunately not in the United States and certainly not in the Soviet Union."

Queen Isabella of Spain was confronted with something of the same sort of question nearly five centuries ago when she sold her jewels to assemble the resources necessary to finance the trip to the Indies of Christopher Columbus and his crew.

Her prime motives may well have been the glory and riches she expected to accrue to Spain. But the great results of this historical venture were not the spice and gold it brought to Spanish coffers, nor the vast territorial acquisitions which gave Spain dominion over the first global empire in history.

Far more important, the Columbian explorations marked the beginning of a major new cycle in the development of the world, enhancing man's mastery of the seas and bringing together in one great community, however unhappily, the entire human race.

It is not too much to contemplate that similar experiences may be awaiting us as we embark on the contemporary venture into unknown space. This is not simply because outer space provides a new dimension to potentially new resources, nor because the possibility of finding life on other planets has suddenly become much more real. Of even greater importance is the vast accumulation of new technology and new techniques resulting from the first decade of space exploration. Not unnaturally, the sheer spectacular quality of the moon landing tended to focus the world's attention on the heroic aspects of the achievement.

Somehow, the casting of the Apollo 11 and 12 voyages on millions of television sets around the world gave it the character of a sports event. Focus was on the astronauts, champions of a new interplanetary Olympiad, and on the faultless performance of the spacecraft. In the process, the real significance of space exploration became obscure.

If the experience of the past three or four thousand years has any value, it tells us that in freeing himself from the millennial confinement of the earth's gravitation and its atmosphere, man has added a vast new dimension to his environment and to his character. In broadening his horizons, he has in a qualitative sense altered his very being and completely changed his relationship to the rest of nature, and this in turn presages sweeping changes in every field of human activity.

Colossal strides in civilization in the past have followed each major advance in man's observation of the skies. Astronomical discoveries, time after time, have influenced and, in some cases, shifted the very course of history.

Now, the impact of space exploration the most momentous of all human adventures promises to usher in a new stage of civilization the broad outlines of which remain undefinable, if for no other reason than that the exploration has only begun. The potential of the universe for mankind is as completely unknown today as was that of the New World after the return of Columbus to Spain.

As Margaret Mead, the American anthropologist, has put it: "Once you raise the question that other land than this earth is possible to live on, that other places are possible places to found colonies, or that there may be other living creatures somewhere, you have changed the whole place of man in the universe. You've altered everything. This involves a considerable reduction of human arrogance and a tremendous magnification of human possibilities."

Just as the age of earth exploration completely transformed the political matrix around the globe, the space age will radically. Alter the present global political constellation and institutions. The nation state, already ill-suited to human needs in the last half of the twentieth century, can hardly be expected to effectively serve man's goals in space.

The on-again off-again trip to Mars, originally scheduled for the 1970s, will very likely be too expensive for either the United States or the Soviet Union to undertake alone. By combining in this and other projects in the conquest of space, it is possible to co-operate where prejudices and conflicting interests are least involved. In this age of global problems, the necessity of co-operation in space as human beings with predominantly common interests cannot but have a feedback on earth. If and when space exploration becomes more than a marginal activity, its higher priority is bound to give new stimulus to international joint ventures in space.

Already COMSAT (Communications Satellite Corporation) and INTELSAT (the international space communications organization of 70 member countries) have established a pattern for international public utilities in space communications. American and Soviet rockets are launching European, Australian and Japanese satellites into space. And some 40 tracking stations around the globe, involving varying degrees of international co-operation, participated in the Apollo project.

But if no one knows where this new adventure in space will eventually take us, what new worlds will be discovered what new horizons will open as man colonizes the moon or other planets, or what advantages may be found in manufacturing instruments and equipment in the vacuum of outer space, the first decade of the Space Age has given us a foretaste of what is in store for the future.

Since 1967 hardly a person on earth has not been directly or indirectly effected in one way or another by the results of the space exploration. Liberated from the forces that have kept us earthbound throughout recorded history, we now have capabilities (intellectual and material) that are immeasurably greater than ever before. These new capabilities open unlimited opportunities for the development of human faculties and the satisfaction of human needs.

A whole galaxy of earth satellites is now providing global services which have already brought vast improvements to communications, weather prediction, geology and geodetics, navigation and oceanography. These and other vital tools for the enhancement of man's control over his environment are available not only to the advanced industrial countries that have developed them, but have had immediate benefits for all countries around the globe providing developing countries with tremendous new capabilities for more rapid economic and social advance.

New technologies products, materials, processes, manufacturing techniques, operating procedures, and new standards born of space requirements are being transferred from their original space application to industry, commerce, education and public health, replacing products or practices currently in use to provide those which will better fill the vast variety of human needs.

But, most important, effective techniques and structures have been developed for the "forcing" of technology transfer, and private industry, universities and governments now have at their disposal vast computerized data banks of knowledge and data on virtually every field of the physical and social sciences, technology and the humanities.

But an even more important aspect of the Space Revolution is the last one: techniques for directing massive projects undertaken by thousands of minds in a close-knit, synergistic combination of government, universities and industry. Taken together these techniques are potentially the most powerful management tool in man's history, changing the way civil servants, scientists and managers approach virtually every task they undertake.

About the authors

U.S. engineer Gene Gregory is also a writer specializing in economic and technological questions.

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Space is about to get a funding boost but there are ethical questions to consider, experts say

By Daniel Keane

ABC Radio Adelaide

Topic: Astronomy (Space)

This photo known as Earthrise was taken by NASA astronaut Bill Anders. ( NASA: Bill Anders )

In 1968, NASA astronaut Bill Anders took a photo which had a profound impact on the way humankind saw itself.

Known as Earthrise, the photo — taken from a spacecraft in lunar orbit — showed our planet rising above the horizon of the moon.

When it was published, the image had a galvanising effect on the environmental movement, fulfilling a prophecy of English cosmologist Fred Hoyle.

Two decades earlier, Professor Hoyle had written that a photograph of the Earth from space would create "a new idea as powerful as any in history" .

The Earthrise photo made it easier for humanity to see itself as a whole, and to glimpse what was at stake if we trashed our planetary home.

The Apollo 8 mission launches the spacecraft from which Bill Anders took his famous photo. ( Supplied: NASA )

Ever since, the image has been regarded as a moral stimulant — a reminder of the fragility of human existence and of our collective destiny on "spaceship Earth".

But not everybody who shared those concerns was on board.

A few years before Mr Anders took his iconic snap, an ebullient English historian and pacifist, Arnold J. Toynbee, began publicly voicing reservations about the entire space program.

Professor Toynbee's main objection was an ethical one; space was costing money and vital resources at a time when humanity faced bigger challenges, such as poverty and the threat of nuclear war .

He dismissed the space race as a "childish competition" between two superpowers, and suggested it was premature to be looking to the moon and stars when our own house was not in order.

"It's rather scandalous, when human beings are going short of necessities, to do this," Professor Toynbee said.

Waste of money or future lifeline?

There has been a lot of hype around space.

Last year, the Federal Government announced the creation of a new Australian Space Agency (ASA), while the United States President, Donald Trump, has committed NASA to a five-year plan to go back to the moon and push on to Mars .

To do that, Mr Trump wanted to increase the agency's $US20-billion budget for 2020 by $US1.6 billion , and Scott Morrison has pledged $150 million to secure Australian involvement in the project.

NASA is currently working to return to the moon. ( NASA: Joel Kowsky/Florida )

But the deadline has led some of the industry's most prominent supporters — including astronaut Andy Thomas — to express concerns.

"Unrealistic schedule expectations can be very dangerous in the spaceflight business and we know that from experience," Dr Thomas told ABC Radio Adelaide last month.

Climate change has also caused some to rethink human involvement in space.

"Let's be clear. If we had the same enthusiasm and the same budget available for the technologies to solve some of the problems we have now, we'd probably be able to do it," said renewable energy advocate Giles Parkinson.

"Money that's thrown at things like space travel, and exploration for oil and gas — that's money that could also be spent on addressing the climate change issue."

Mr Parkinson said he was not opposed to space exploration, but he questioned levels of investment at a time when the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has predicted dangerous warming beyond 1.5 degrees Celsius within decades .

"The other thing that disturbs me is this idea that space travel might be our saviour," Mr Parkinson said.

"It seems to be loading the dice and taking enormous risks to think that if we stuff this planet up, because of global warning and other environmental impacts, then we can all live happily on another planet."

Elon Musk is confident humans will be on Mars within his lifetime. ( AP: Robyn Beck )

One person who proposed to do just that was Elon Musk, who joked that he wanted to die on Mars — but not on impact.

"He's done a lot of great things for space," said Nikki Coleman, a Canberra-based researcher and military chaplain.

"He has inspired a whole generation of young people, but I still think he needs oversight.

"I don't think we should be allowing people to just be able to invest and do whatever they want."

A space arms race?

Dr Coleman and her husband Stephen Coleman are experts in an emerging field called space ethics at the University of New South Wales.

Nikki Coleman and Stephen Coleman study the ethics of space research. ( Supplied: Nikki Coleman )

They have both been proponents of human involvement in space, but believed ethical considerations should play a stronger role in steering it.

"We rely so much on space now in ways that people don't even realise," Professor Coleman said.

"I don't think it's possible to say 'well, let's just leave space alone'.

"It costs a lot to do this, but what does it cost to not do it?"

There have been plenty of examples of space technology leading to ongoing benefits on terra firma: food production, communication, transport navigation (including planes), and weather prediction all heavily rely on satellites.

"Climate projections are using a lot of space-based technology," Professor Coleman said.

"Realistically, there's no climate scientist in the world who's not using space-based resources and space-based research to assist them … if you look at what's happening in Greenland with the ice sheet ; they're using satellites for that."

Mr Trump wants the US to secure "dominance in space". ( AP: Evan Vucci )

But there have been concerns about the so-called "militarisation" of space, and fears of a space arms race in which countries compete to launch satellites with hostile intent.

"In June of last year, President Trump announced the forthcoming formation of a sixth branch of the US military — a so-called Space Force ," said physician and anti-nuclear campaigner, Tilman Ruff.

Professor Ruff helped to establish the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the 2017 Nobel Peace Prize, and believes more thought needs to be given to how space could trigger nuclear conflict.

"If satellites were disrupted to provide a false alert of an attack, or to disable communications between facilities and forces in different places, then it's a real can of worms in terms of unpredictable escalation."

The Kessler syndrome and space terrorism

One of the ways in which space could become a de facto military frontline is through the weaponisation of space junk and debris.

It sounds bizarre but it would involve a hypothetical scenario known as the Kessler syndrome, which describes the potential effects of space junk colliding with a satellite.

"One collision might create so much junk that it starts a chain reaction where you just can't avoid collisions again, and you get more and more pieces of junk piling up, more and more satellites being destroyed, more and more pieces of debris," Professor Coleman said.

Experts have said it was more than plausible , and it has been on the ASA's radar, which has committed to minimising space junk.

"Applications for the launch of an Australian satellite overseas, or a launch to space from Australia, include consideration of the space environment, including space debris," the ASA said in a statement.

Currently, there are millions of artificial objects in orbit around the Earth.

About 95 per cent of objects in this illustration are space debris. ( Supplied: NASA )

"We keep putting more stuff up there and it's really hard to keep track," Professor Coleman said.

"In low-Earth orbit, it's moving around at many kilometres per second, so an impact between these things has huge consequences."

Recent research by Dr Coleman has focused on the likelihood of terrorist groups trying to trigger this scenario, especially as the cost of launching satellites decreases.

"Non-state groups can actually use space debris deliberately against developed nations to knock out our infrastructure," she said.

The safety of space and keeping asteroids at bay

Another hot topic in space ethics has been safety, including for astronauts and future space tourists.

While the nature of space means there will always be a huge risk, Dr Coleman described Elon Musk's push to get to Mars as "ethically really problematic", and her husband agreed.

"One of the main issues there, for example, is radiation," Professor Coleman said.

"If that's literally a mission that takes years for those astronauts, what are the effects of years of exposure to that level of radiation?

"We really don't know."

The consequences of Mars missions on human health remain unknown. ( Supplied: NASA )

So should we be looking to the stars to secure our future, or should we be focusing our efforts closer to home?

"There's one area of potential use of space-based technology that I think we should develop and invest in further," Dr Ruff said.

"Of all the existential threats, one that is not of our making is [the] potential for [a] collision of the Earth with a large celestial body.

"A collective effort to try and predict such dangers and address them effectively … does seem to me one of the few things we should be doing in space."

Is Space Travel a Waste of Money? Pros, Cons, and Worthwhile Reasons to Explore

Many view space travel as a waste of money. However, NASA’s budget is just 0.5% of the federal budget. Government investment in space programs drives economic growth and innovation. Even countries with smaller space budgets achieve significant benefits, showing that space travel is impactful and valuable.

On the other hand, critics highlight the enormous costs associated with space missions. They argue that resources could be better allocated to urgent issues on Earth, such as education and healthcare. Furthermore, some believe that the potential benefits of space travel do not justify the financial investment.

Despite the concerns, there are worthwhile reasons to explore space. Space travel prompts global collaboration. It inspires future generations to pursue careers in STEM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics). Moreover, it offers valuable insights into climate change and planetary defense.

In conclusion, whether space travel is a waste of money depends on one’s perspective. Evaluating its benefits and drawbacks is crucial to understanding its true value. The ongoing debate sets the stage for broader discussions about humanity’s future in space and sustainable exploration approaches.

Table of Contents

What Are the Major Costs of Space Travel?

The major costs of space travel include expenses related to launch operations, spacecraft development, astronaut training, and long-term mission maintenance.

• Launch Operations
• Spacecraft Development
• Astronaut Training
• Mission Maintenance
• Insurance and Liability

Understanding the costs associated with space travel is essential for informed decision-making. Each of these cost areas presents unique challenges and financial implications.

Launch Operations : Launch operations encompass the preparation, execution, and safety measures necessary to send spacecraft into orbit. This includes facility usage, fuel, transportation, and ground support, which collectively contribute significantly to the overall budget. For example, a single SpaceX Falcon 9 launch costs around $62 million. NASA’s Space Launch System (SLS) estimates suggest that each launch will exceed $2 billion due to its complexity and safety features.

Spacecraft Development : Spacecraft development involves designing, building, and testing spacecraft for missions. This includes costs for spacecraft materials, technology integration, and rigorous testing processes. A case study on NASA’s Orion spacecraft reveals that development costs were projected to be approximately $12 billion. This hefty price tag demonstrates the extensive technical requirements and research necessary to ensure safety and mission success.

Astronaut Training : Astronaut training ensures crew members are equipped with the skills and knowledge to operate complex systems in space. This training often spans several years, costing upwards of $1 million per astronaut. Training includes simulations, physical fitness regimes, and survival training. NASA has invested over $160 million specifically in astronaut training programs under its Artemis project.

Mission Maintenance : Mission maintenance refers to the ongoing costs incurred during a mission, which can include repair, resupply, and operational expenditures. For instance, the International Space Station (ISS) requires a budget of around $3 billion annually to maintain its operations. This includes the constant need for supplies, equipment upgrades, and the management of systems vital for astronaut safety.

Insurance and Liability : Insurance and liability costs protect against financial risks associated with space missions. Launch insurance can be substantial, with costs reaching several million dollars per launch. According to a 2021 report from the Insurance Information Institute, the insurance premium for a single launch of a medium-sized rocket can be $10 million or more. This aspect shows the financial risks that companies face in the event of a launch failure or other unforeseen incident.

In summary, the costs of space travel span diverse avenues, each bearing significant financial implications for governments and private entities alike. Understanding these expenditures fosters insight into the challenges of pursuing space exploration.

How Do Government Budgets Affect Space Exploration?

Government budgets significantly influence space exploration by determining the financial resources available for research, development, and missions. These budgets impact the scope of projects, technological advancements, and international collaboration within the space sector.

The key influences of government budgets on space exploration include:

Funding availability : Budget allocations dictate the amount of money available for space programs. For example, NASA’s budget was approximately $23.3 billion in 2021 (NASA, 2021). Such funding supports various missions, research, and infrastructure development.

Project scope : Limited budgets restrict the number of missions that agencies can undertake. A smaller budget may lead to fewer ambitious missions. For instance, the cancellation or postponement of projects like the Constellation program reflected the impact of budget constraints.

Technological advancements : Government investments drive innovation in space technology. Increased funding often leads to breakthroughs in propulsion systems, satellite technology, and other critical areas. According to a report by the Space Foundation (2021), government spending in space research often results in technological advancements that benefit other sectors, including healthcare and telecommunications.

Human resources : Budgets affect staffing levels and expertise in space agencies. Adequate funding ensures that agencies can hire and retain skilled professionals. Consequently, reduced budgets may lead to talent loss and a decline in research output.

International collaboration : Budgets influence a country’s ability to engage in international space partnerships. Countries with substantial space budgets often collaborate on major projects, such as the International Space Station (ISS). For instance, NASA’s budget supports its role in global space initiatives, fostering international cooperation.

Public interest and support : Government expenditures shape public perception of space exploration. Increased budgets can generate excitement and support for future missions. The European Space Agency’s budget in 2021 was around €6.68 billion, showing commitment and generating interest from European citizens (ESA, 2021).

In conclusion, government budgets are critical for defining the priorities of space exploration. Economic resources shape the extent and direction of space activities, impacting technological innovation, workforce development, international collaboration, and public engagement in space programs.

What Financial Risks Do Private Companies Face in Space Missions?

Private companies face several financial risks in space missions, including high upfront costs, potential project delays, regulatory challenges, and uncertain market demand.

• High Upfront Costs
• Potential Project Delays
• Regulatory Challenges
• Uncertain Market Demand

The financial risks for private companies in space missions can significantly impact their operations and profitability.

High Upfront Costs : High upfront costs refer to the significant investment required to develop, build, and launch spacecraft. This includes expenses for technology development, engineering, testing, and procurement of materials. According to a report from the Space Foundation in 2021, the average cost of launching a satellite can exceed $10 million, depending on its complexity. Companies like SpaceX have invested billions in reusable rocket technology to lower these costs. Despite these efforts, the initial financial burden can strain a company’s resources, making it a considerable risk.

Potential Project Delays : Potential project delays occur when unforeseen complications arise during the mission development. Delays can result from technical challenges, supply chain issues, or regulatory hurdles. A notable example is the delay of NASA’s Space Launch System, which has pushed back timelines and added financial strain on contractors like Boeing. A 2020 report by NASA’s Office of Inspector General noted that missed deadlines could cost contractors millions in penalties and lost revenues.

Regulatory Challenges : Regulatory challenges encompass the compliance with laws and regulations governing space activities. This includes obtaining licenses for launches and adhering to safety protocols. Such regulatory requirements can slow down project timelines. According to the Government Accountability Office, regulatory approval processes can take several months, which may lead to increased costs for private companies.

Uncertain Market Demand : Uncertain market demand refers to the fluctuating interest and investment in space missions from both governmental and commercial sectors. Market dynamics can change rapidly. The 2020 pandemic highlighted how shifting priorities can impact funding for space projects. A report from McKinsey & Company in 2019 stated that companies need to balance investment with the risk of unpredictable demand, which can affect their financial sustainability.

What Benefits Can Justify the Expenses of Space Travel?

Space travel offers multiple benefits that can justify its expenses. These benefits encompass scientific advancements, economic opportunities, and international collaboration, among others.

• Scientific Research
• Technological Innovation
• Economic Growth
• National Security
• International Cooperation
• Inspiration and Education
• Addressing Global Challenges

The discussion on the benefits of space travel opens the door to a deeper examination of each point.

Scientific Research : Scientific research in space travel allows for groundbreaking discoveries about our universe. Programs like the Hubble Space Telescope have provided valuable data on celestial phenomena. According to NASA, information obtained from space has reshaped our understanding of astrophysics, such as dark matter and the expansion of the universe. The European Space Agency’s Rosetta mission, which successfully landed on a comet, demonstrated the feasibility of conducting experiments in extreme conditions and gathering data that can inform planetary science.

Technological Innovation : Technological innovation stems from the challenges of space travel. NASA’s investments in space exploration led to advancements in materials science, electronics, and robotics. For example, the development of miniaturized technology for spacecraft has contributed to improvements in consumer products like smartphones. A report from the National Research Council in 2010 highlighted that every dollar spent on NASA generates about $8 in economic returns through technology transfer and job creation.

Economic Growth : Economic growth is stimulated by the space industry, which contributes significantly to job creation and revenue. The space sector supports a growing commercial market, including satellite communications, Earth observation, and space tourism. According to a 2020 report by the Space Foundation, the global space economy was valued at $423.8 billion. This growth aligns with the trend of increasing private investment in space initiatives, such as those by SpaceX and Blue Origin.

National Security : National security interests are served through advancements in satellite technology. Military applications often rely on space-based assets for communication, surveillance, and reconnaissance. The U.S. Department of Defense emphasizes the importance of maintaining technological superiority in space to safeguard national interests. By investing in space travel, nations can enhance their defense capabilities and monitor global events more effectively.

International Cooperation : International cooperation is fostered through collaborative space missions. Projects like the International Space Station (ISS) unite multiple nations toward common scientific goals. According to a 2019 study led by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, partnerships in space exploration enhance diplomatic relationships and build mutual trust among countries. This cooperation is critical in addressing global challenges like climate change.

Inspiration and Education : Inspiration and education are vital aspects of space travel. Programs aimed at public engagement, such as the Artemis program, stimulate interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) fields. Research by the Pew Research Center in 2019 indicated that public support for space exploration correlates with increased enthusiasm for scientific education among younger generations.

Addressing Global Challenges : Addressing global challenges involves utilizing space technology for Earth-based solutions. Earth observation satellites monitor climate change, natural disasters, and resource management. The United Nations has used satellite data for disaster relief efforts and humanitarian aid. According to a 2021 report by the European Space Agency, satellite applications have been pivotal in managing water resources and tracking agricultural yields, potentially alleviating food shortages.

In summary, the benefits of space travel—including scientific research, technological innovation, economic growth, national security, international cooperation, inspiration, and tackling global challenges—create a compelling argument for its financial justification.

How Does Space Travel Drive Scientific Innovation?

Space travel drives scientific innovation by pushing the boundaries of technology and knowledge. It necessitates the development of new materials, propulsion systems, and life support systems. Engineers and scientists create advanced technologies to address the challenges of safety, efficiency, and sustainability in space.

This innovation often spills over into other industries. For example, advancements in satellite technology have improved global communication and weather forecasting. Research conducted in microgravity leads to new medical insights. These insights can result in breakthroughs in drug development and disease treatment.

Additionally, space exploration fosters collaboration among countries and organizations. Shared goals encourage contributions from diverse scientific fields, leading to comprehensive solutions.

Ultimately, the pursuit of space travel not only enhances our understanding of the universe but also drives practical innovations that improve everyday life on Earth.

What Technological Advancements Have Emerged from Space Exploration?

Technological advancements from space exploration have significantly impacted various fields, leading to innovations that enhance everyday life.

• Satellite Technology
• Telecommunications
• Earth Observation
• Medical Technology
• Material Science
• Transport and Ground Systems
• Environmental Monitoring

These advancements demonstrate how space exploration can contribute to improving daily life, industry, and scientific research.

Satellite Technology: Satellite technology refers to the use of satellites for communication, navigation, and data collection. Satellites orbit the Earth and provide critical services, including GPS, television broadcasting, and meteorological observations. As of 2023, more than 3,000 satellites are currently in orbit, offering essential insights for various sectors. According to a 2021 report by the International Telecommunication Union, satellite communications have supported remote education and healthcare in underserved regions.

Telecommunications: Telecommunications advancements have emerged from the development of satellite technology. For example, innovations like high-speed internet access through satellites allow people in remote areas to connect globally. Companies such as SpaceX and OneWeb are leading initiatives to enhance global internet access through satellite networks. A study by the Broadband Commission in 2020 emphasized how these advancements play a vital role in bridging the digital divide.

Earth Observation: Earth observation describes the use of satellite imagery to monitor environmental changes on Earth. This technology assists in disaster management, agriculture, and climate research. NASA’s Landsat program, initiated in 1972, has provided valuable data showing changes in land use and natural resources over the decades. Research from the European Space Agency shows that Earth observation contributes to real-time decision-making during natural disasters, enhancing response times and saving lives.

Medical Technology: Medical technology has seen advancements from space exploration, particularly in imaging and diagnostics. Techniques developed for space missions, such as portable ultrasound systems, are now used in emergency situations and rural healthcare. Research by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) indicates that these systems can improve healthcare accessibility. Additionally, drug development processes have benefited from research conducted in microgravity environments.

Material Science: Material science has improved due to the need for advanced materials used in space exploration. High-strength, lightweight materials are crucial for spacecraft design and have led to innovations in various industries, including automotive and construction. NASA’s research on carbon fiber composites, for instance, has influenced the development of more durable consumer products. According to a study by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, these materials enhance performance and efficiency across multiple applications.

Transport and Ground Systems: Transportation technologies benefit from innovations driven by space exploration. Developments in autonomous driving systems and navigation technologies have roots in aerospace systems. NASA’s collaboration with various automotive companies illustrates how space-derived technologies can enhance safety and efficiency in terrestrial transport. A report from the U.S. Department of Transportation in 2021 showed that these advancements are integral to developing smart transportation networks.

Environmental Monitoring: Environmental monitoring technologies help track climate and environmental changes, largely reliant on satellite data. Space exploration has led to advancements in sensors and data analysis techniques that provide insights into global warming and pollution levels. Research from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) supports the notion that such satellite observations are vital for better understanding and mitigating climate change impacts.

These advancements underscore the diverse benefits that arise from space exploration, illustrating its value beyond the immediate context of space travel.

Who Profits from Investments in Space Travel?

Investments in space travel profit various entities. Private companies, such as SpaceX and Blue Origin, generate financial returns by launching satellites and conducting commercial missions. Government agencies, including NASA, leverage funding for technological advancements that benefit multiple sectors. Investors who finance space ventures also gain monetary returns through ownership stakes. Additionally, academic institutions profit through research grants funded by governmental and private sector partnerships. Finally, the tourism industry can benefit as space travel becomes possible for civilians, driving economic growth in that sector. Overall, the landscape of space travel investments yields profits for multiple stakeholders.

How Are Private Companies Changing the Space Exploration Landscape?

Private companies are significantly changing the space exploration landscape. They provide innovative technologies and cost-effective solutions. These companies, like SpaceX and Blue Origin, develop rockets and spacecraft that reduce the overall expenses of launching payloads into space. They are also expanding access to space by offering commercial satellite launches and crewed missions.

Next, private firms are fostering competition in the space industry. This competition drives advancements in technology and efficiency. As companies strive to offer better services, they significantly lower prices for consumers and governments.

Private companies also collaborate with national space agencies. These partnerships enhance resources and expertise for missions. They allow for joint efforts in scientific research and exploration initiatives. Such collaborations help accelerate the pace of discovery in space.

Furthermore, private ventures encourage investment and public interest. They attract funding from private investors and venture capitalists. This increased financial support enables greater innovation and expansion of research capabilities.

In conclusion, private companies are reshaping space exploration. They lower costs, inspire competition, foster collaboration, and enhance investment. These changes make space more accessible and exciting for future exploration.

What Role Do International Collaborations Play in Space Missions?

International collaborations play a crucial role in space missions by allowing nations to combine resources, expertise, and technology to achieve shared goals. These partnerships enhance the capabilities of individual countries and promote a more comprehensive approach to exploring outer space.

The main points related to the role of international collaborations in space missions include:

• Shared Financial Burden
• Access to Diverse Expertise
• Enhanced Technological Innovation
• Increased Data Sharing
• Strengthened Global Partnerships
• Unity for Peaceful Exploration

Transitioning from these essential points, let us delve into each aspect of international collaborations in space missions.

Shared Financial Burden : Shared financial burden is a key benefit of international collaborations in space missions. Joint missions allow countries to pool their budgets, reducing the cost per nation. For example, the International Space Station (ISS) is a collaboration among multiple countries, significantly spreading out the costs of its construction and operation. NASA, Roscosmos, ESA, JAXA, and CSA collectively invest in the ISS, leading to substantial savings.

Access to Diverse Expertise : Access to diverse expertise enhances the effectiveness and success of space missions. Different nations contribute unique skills and knowledge, improving problem-solving capabilities. For instance, European scientists led the development of the Rosetta spacecraft, while a global team assisted with its mission to land on a comet, showcasing the power of combined expertise across various fields.

Enhanced Technological Innovation : Enhanced technological innovation is a direct result of international collaborations. Countries can share technologies and methodologies, leading to improved tools and systems for space exploration. The collaboration between NASA and private companies like SpaceX has accelerated advancements in rocket technology and human spaceflight, showing how partnerships foster technological growth.

Increased Data Sharing : Increased data sharing among nations benefits research and development in space science. Countries often share critical findings and satellite data to monitor Earth’s climate and disasters. For example, the Global Climate Observing System consists of various international organizations sharing satellite data. This collective effort supports better climate response strategies.

Strengthened Global Partnerships : Strengthened global partnerships promote international goodwill and cooperation. Collaborative missions foster trust and mutual respect among nations. Such partnerships can extend beyond space exploration to influence diplomatic relations on Earth. The Apollo-Soyuz Test Project in 1972 marked a milestone in U.S.-Soviet relations during the Cold War, exemplifying how space missions can promote harmony.

Unity for Peaceful Exploration : Unity for peaceful exploration emphasizes the importance of collaboration for ensuring space remains an area for peace and scientific advancement. Treaties, such as the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, encourage nations to work together and utilize space for the benefit of all humanity. This collaborative spirit is crucial in addressing challenges like space debris and planetary defense, as problems in space require joint solutions.

In conclusion, international collaborations in space missions foster collective advancement, innovation, and cooperation, helping humanity explore and understand outer space more effectively than any single nation could achieve alone.

Why Is Public Opinion Crucial in the Discussion on Space Travel Spending?

Public opinion is crucial in the discussion on space travel spending because it influences government priorities and funding decisions. The perceptions and attitudes of the public can shape the allocation of resources toward space programs.

The Pew Research Center, a nonpartisan American fact tank, defines public opinion as the aggregate of individual attitudes or beliefs held by the adult population. Understanding public opinion helps policymakers gauge support for initiatives, including space exploration.

Several underlying reasons explain why public opinion matters in this context:

• Funding Dependence : Space travel often relies on government funding. If the public supports space initiatives, legislators are more likely to approve budgets.
• Accountability : Public opinion keeps government agencies accountable. Advocates for space travel must justify expenditures to a critical electorate.
• Social Influence : Beliefs about the importance of space travel can influence new generations of scientists and engineers, driving innovation and learning.

Technical terms such as “public opinion” and “government funding” are important to define. Public opinion refers to the collective views of a population, while government funding signifies financial support from public sector entities, often allocated based on perceived public interest and potential benefits.

The mechanisms involved in shaping public opinion include media representation and education. Media can frame space travel as either a valuable investment in technology and knowledge or as an extravagant expense. Educational initiatives can raise awareness about the benefits of space exploration, such as technological advancements and international collaboration.

Specific conditions contributing to public opinion include economic factors and recent space achievements. For example, during times of economic hardship, public sentiment may shift toward prioritizing immediate needs over exploratory missions. In contrast, major breakthroughs, like successful Mars rover landings, can reignite interest and support for continued investment in space exploration.

In summary, public opinion significantly impacts the conversation around space travel spending due to its effect on funding, accountability, and social influence. Understanding these dynamics helps to navigate the complexities of space exploration support.

How Does Public Perception Shape the Future of Space Funding?

Public perception significantly shapes the future of space funding. Support for space exploration depends on how the public views its benefits. People often perceive space missions as a source of technological advancements, scientific knowledge, and national pride. Positive public sentiment can lead to increased funding from government agencies and private investors.

The first component is public awareness. When people understand the scientific and practical benefits of space exploration, they are more likely to support it. Awareness campaigns can highlight innovations derived from space research, such as satellite technology and advancements in healthcare.

The second component is media portrayal. Media can influence public opinion through news coverage and documentaries. Favorable portrayals of space missions can enhance public interest, while negative coverage may diminish support.

The third component is the role of advocacy groups. Organizations that promote space exploration can mobilize public opinion. They can organize events, fund educational programs, and engage with communities. This grassroots involvement can shift the narrative in favor of increased funding.

The logical sequence to address space funding begins with increasing public awareness. Educating the public about the immediate and long-term benefits of space exploration is crucial. This step leads to engaging media outlets to share success stories and breakthroughs. Advocacy groups can capitalize on this momentum to rally support.

Each step connects to the next: increased awareness fuels media coverage, and positive media portrayals can empower advocacy groups to push for funding. These elements work together to shape public perception favorably.

In conclusion, public perception plays a pivotal role in determining the future of space funding. Through awareness, media influence, and advocacy, public sentiment can drive funding decisions. Positive perceptions encourage investments in space exploration, while negative views can hinder progress. Maintaining a strong public interest is essential for the continued advancement of space initiatives.

Can Space Exploration Enhance Educational Opportunities for Society?

Yes, space exploration can enhance educational opportunities for society. It provides unique learning experiences and stimulates interest in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields.

Space exploration engages students by displaying real-world applications of scientific concepts. Educational programs, such as those involving partnerships with space agencies, provide resources and inspiration for teachers and students alike. The excitement around missions, like those to Mars or the International Space Station, captures attention and fosters curiosity. Additionally, hands-on projects, like building models or conducting experiments, help learners grasp complex ideas effectively. These experiences can lead to increased enrollment in STEM courses and careers, ultimately benefiting society.

What Are the Ethical Implications of Allocating Funds to Space Travel?

The ethical implications of allocating funds to space travel include considerations of resource allocation, environmental impact, human priority, and scientific advancement.

• Resource Allocation
• Environmental Impact
• Human Priorities
• Scientific Advancement
• Economic Considerations
• Global Inequity

Allocating funds to space travel involves serious ethical considerations regarding various perspectives related to resource allocation and priorities. These discussions reflect a broad spectrum of opinions.

Resource Allocation : Resource allocation refers to the distribution of financial resources among competing needs. Critics argue that spending on space travel diverts funds from pressing social issues such as poverty, healthcare, and education. Proponents assert that investment in space can create jobs, foster innovation, and lead to technological advancements that benefit society. According to a report by NASA, every dollar spent on the agency generates about $10 in economic return.

Environmental Impact : The environmental impact of space travel includes the carbon emissions associated with rocket launches and the potential for space debris. Launching rockets contributes to pollution and can disrupt local ecosystems. However, advocates argue that advancements in technology, such as reusable rockets, can mitigate these effects. A study by the International Academy of Astronautics highlights the need for sustainable practices in space exploration to protect both Earth and space environments.

Human Priorities : Human priorities address the question of whether humanity should focus on issues on Earth before exploring space. Some believe that addressing inequalities and ensuring sustainability should take precedence. Others, however, argue that exploring space is essential for the long-term survival of humanity, especially considering potential threats like climate change or asteroid impacts. This debate continues to spark disagreements among ethicists and policymakers.

Scientific Advancement : Scientific advancement refers to the progress made in understanding the universe through space exploration. Space missions lead to the development of new technologies and scientific knowledge. For example, the Hubble Space Telescope has provided invaluable data on the universe, leading to major breakthroughs in astrophysics. Critics, however, often question whether such advancements justify the significant public spending involved.

Economic Considerations : Economic considerations include the cost of space missions versus the benefits they provide. Critics believe that the high expenses could be better spent on urgent domestic issues. Supporters argue that investing in space can drive economic growth, foster new industries, and lead to discoveries that have unforeseen benefits on Earth. A study from the Brookings Institution suggests that investments in space technology can yield substantial economic returns.

Global Inequity : Global inequity points to the disparity between nations that can afford space exploration and those that cannot. It raises ethical questions about prioritizing space over addressing fundamental needs in poorer countries. However, supporters argue that advancements from space missions could benefit humanity as a whole. Initiatives like the World Space Week can promote global collaboration in space endeavors.

National Security : National security encompasses the geopolitical implications of space exploration. Some view space as a new frontier for military competition, raising concerns about weaponization. Others emphasize that space exploration can foster international cooperation and peaceful uses of outer space. The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 highlights the commitment to use space for peaceful purposes, but ensuring compliance remains a challenge.

These ethical dimensions of funding space travel underscore the complexity of this issue and the diverse perspectives surrounding it.

Should We Address Earthly Problems Before Advancing Space Exploration?

No, we should not solely focus on earthly problems before advancing space exploration. Both areas can be pursued simultaneously.

Many pressing earthly problems, such as climate change, resource depletion, and poverty, have complex roots that can benefit from technological advancements derived from space exploration. Research in space often leads to innovations in areas like communication, environmental monitoring, and materials science. For example, satellite technology enhances our understanding of climate patterns and helps in disaster management. Thus, addressing earthly issues does not preclude or negate the importance of pursuing space exploration; the two can be mutually beneficial.

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How bad is space tourism for the environment? And other space travel questions, answered.

Six questions to consider before launching yourself into space.

by Rebecca Heilweil

For many, the rise of commercial space tourism is a vulgar display of wealth and power . Amid several global crises, including climate change and a pandemic, billionaires are spending their cash on launching themselves into space for fun. When Amazon founder Jeff Bezos told reporters after his first space tourism trip on Tuesday that Amazon customers and employees had “paid” for his flight, that only intensified that criticism.

But critics won’t deter Bezos and the other superrich. Space tourism is now a reality for the people who can afford it — and it will have repercussions for everyone on Earth.

In fact, all signs indicate that the market for these trips is already big enough that they’ll keep happening. Jeff Bezos’s spaceflight company Blue Origin already has two more trips scheduled later this year , while Virgin Galactic , the space firm founded by billionaire Richard Branson, has at least 600 people who have already paid around $250,000 each for future tickets on its spaceplane.

Now, as the commercial space tourism market (literally) gets off the ground, there are big questions facing future space travelers — and everyone else on the planet. Here are answers to the six biggest ones.

1. What will people actually be able to see and experience on a space trip?

The biggest perk of traveling to space is the view. Just past the boundary between space and Earth, passengers can catch a stunning glimpse of our planet juxtaposed against the wide unknown of space. If a passenger is riding on a Virgin Galactic flight, they will get about 53 miles above sea level. Blue Origin riders will get a little bit higher, about 62 miles above sea level and past the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary between Earth and space. Overall, the experience on both flights is pretty similar.

The view is meant to be awe-inducing, and the experience even has its own name: the Overview Effect . “​​When you see Earth from that high up, it changes your perspective on things and how interconnected we are and how we squander that here on Earth,” Wendy Whitman Cobb, a professor at the US Air Force’s School of Advanced Air and Space Studies, told Recode.

Another perk of these trips is that space tourists will feel a few minutes of microgravity, which is when gravity feels extremely weak . That will give them the chance to bounce around a spacecraft weightlessly before heading back to Earth.

But Blue Origin’s and Virgin Galactic’s flights are relatively brief — about 10 and 90 minutes long , respectively. Other space tourism flights from SpaceX, the space company founded by Elon Musk , will have more to offer. This fall, billionaire Jared Isaacman, who founded the company Shift4 Payments, will pilot SpaceX’s first all-civilian flight, the Inspiration4 , which will spend several days in orbit around Earth. In the coming years, the company has also planned private missions to the International Space Station, as well as a trip around the moon .

These trips are meant to be enjoyed by space nerds who longed to be astronauts. But there’s another reason rich people want to go to space: demonstrating exclusivity and conspicuous consumption. More than a few people can afford a trip to Venice or the Maldives. But how many people are privileged enough to take a trip to space?

“What a nice way of showing off these days than to post a picture on Instagram from space,” Sridhar Tayur, a Carnegie Mellon business professor, told Recode.

2. Does commercial space travel have any scientific goals, or is it really just a joyride?

Right now, space tourism flights from Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have only reached suborbital space , which means that flights enter space but do not enter orbit around Earth. Scientifically, that’s not a new frontier. Though these current flights use new technology, suborbital flight with humans aboard was accomplished by NASA back in the early 1960s , Matthew Hersch, a historian of technology at Harvard, told Recode.

Right now, it’s not clear these trips will offer scientists major new insights, but they might provide information that could be used in the future for space exploration. In fact, these trips are also being marketed as potential opportunities for scientific experiments. For instance, the most recent Virgin Galactic flight carried plants and tested how they responded to microgravity .

These private companies primarily see opportunities in their commercial vehicles that can be reused at scale, which will allow the same rockets (or in Virgin Galactic’s case, spaceplanes) to go to space again and again, which lowers the overall cost of space tourism.

Billionaires and their private space companies also see the development of these rockets as an opportunity to prepare for flights that will do even more, and go even farther, into space. Bezos, for instance, has argued that New Shepard’s suborbital flights will help prepare the company’s future missions, including its New Glenn rocket, which is meant for orbital space.

“The fact of the matter is, the architecture and the technology we have chosen is complete overkill for a suborbital tourism mission,” Bezos said at Tuesday’s post-launch briefing . “We have chosen the vertical landing architecture. Why did we do that? Because it scales.”

Beyond potential scientific advancements in the future, suborbital spaceflight might also create new ways to travel from one place on earth to another. SpaceX, for instance, has advertised that long-haul flights could be shortened to just 30 minutes by traveling through space.

3. Is it safe?

Right now, it’s not entirely clear just how risky space tourism is.

One way space tourism companies are trying to keep travelers safe is by requiring training so that the people who are taking a brief sojourn off Earth are as prepared as possible.

On the flight, people can experience intense altitude and G-forces. “This is sustained G-forces on your body, upwards of what can be 6 G in one direction — which is six times your body weight for upwards of 20 or 30 seconds,” Glenn King, the chief operating officer of the Nastar Center — the aerospace physiology training center that prepared Richard Branson for his flights — told Recode. “That’s a long time when you have six people, or your weight, pressing down on you.”

There’s also the chance that space tourists will be exposed to radiation, though that risk depends on how long you’re in space. “It’s a risk, especially more for the orbital flight than sub-orbital,” explains Whitman Cobb. “Going up in an airplane exposes you to a higher amount of radiation than you would get here on the ground.” She also warns that some tourists will likely barf on the ride.

There doesn’t seem to be an age limit on who can travel, though. The most recent Blue Origin flight included both the youngest person to ever travel to space, an 18-year-old Dutch teenager, as well as the oldest: 82-year-old pilot Wally Funk.

4. How much will tickets cost?

The leaders in commercial space tourism already claim they have a market to support the industry. While Bezos hinted on Tuesday the price would eventually come down — as eventually happened with the high prices of the nascent airline industry — for now, ticket prices are in the low hundreds of thousands, at least for Virgin Galactic . That price point would keep spaceflight out of reach for most of humanity, but there are enough interested rich people that space tourism seems to be economically feasible.

“If you bring it down to $250,000, the wait times [to buy a ticket] will be very long,” Tayur, of Carnegie Mellon, told Recode.

5. What impact will commercial space travel have on the environment?

The emissions of a flight to space can be worse than those of a typical airplane flight because just a few people hop aboard one of these flights, so the emissions per passenger are much higher. That pollution could become much worse if space tourism becomes more popular. Virgin Galactic alone eventually aims to launch 400 of these flights annually.

“The carbon footprint of launching yourself into space in one of these rockets is incredibly high, close to about 100 times higher than if you took a long-haul flight,” Eloise Marais , a physical geography professor at the University College London, told Recode. “It’s incredibly problematic if we want to be environmentally conscious and consider our carbon footprint.”

These flights’ effects on the environment will differ depending on factors like the fuel they use, the energy required to manufacture that fuel, and where they’re headed — and all these factors make it difficult to model their environmental impact. For instance, Jeff Bezos has argued that the liquid hydrogen and oxygen fuel Blue Origin uses is less damaging to the environment than the other space competitors (technically, his flight didn’t release carbon dioxide ), but experts told Recode it could still have significant environmental effects .

There are also other risks we need to keep studying , including the release of soot that could hurt the stratosphere and the ozone. A study from 2010 found that the soot released by 1,000 space tourism flights could warm Antarctica by nearly 1 degree Celsius. “There are some risks that are unknown,” Paul Peeters, a tourism sustainability professor at the Breda University of Applied Sciences, told Recode. “We should do much more work to assess those risks and make sure that they do not occur or to alleviate them somehow — before you start this space tourism business.” Overall, he thinks the environmental costs are reason enough not to take such a trip.

6. Who is regulating commercial space travel?

Right now, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has generally been given the job of overseeing the commercial space industry. But regulation of space is still relatively meager.

One of the biggest areas of concern is licensing launches and making sure that space flights don’t end up hitting all the other flying vehicles humans launch into the sky, like planes and drones. Just this June, a SpaceX flight was held up after a helicopter flew into the zone of the launch.

There’s a lot that still needs to be worked out, especially as there are more of these launches. On Thursday, the Senate hosted a hearing with leaders of the commercial space industry focused on overseeing the growing amount of civil space traffic .

At the same time, the FAA is also overseeing a surging number of spaceports — essentially airports for spaceflight — and making sure there’s enough space for them to safely set up their launches.

But there are other areas where the government could step in. “I think the cybersecurity aspect will also play a very vital role, so that people don’t get hacked,” Tayur said. The FAA told Recode that the agency has participated in developing national principles for space cybersecurity, but Congress hasn’t given it a specific role in looking at the cybersecurity of space.

At some point, the government might also step in to regulate the environmental impact of these flights, too, but that’s not something the FAA currently has jurisdiction over.

In the meantime, no government agency is currently vetting these companies when it comes to the safety of the human passengers aboard. An FAA official confirmed with Recode that while the agency is awarding licenses to companies to carry humans to space , they’re not actually confirming that these trips are safe. That’s jurisdiction Congress won’t give the agency until 2023.

There doesn’t seem to be an abundance of travelers’ insurance policies for space. “Passengers basically sign that they’re waiving all their rights,” Whitman Cobb said. “You’re acknowledging that risk and doing it yourself right now.”

So fair warning, if you decide to shell out hundreds of thousands of dollars for a joyride to space: You’d likely have to accept all responsibility if you get hurt.

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Why space exploration is always worthwhile

Your guide to advocating for space in a complicated world.

Most people who love space and believe in exploration have probably heard this once or twice: “We shouldn’t waste money on space exploration when there are problems to deal with here on Earth.”

While public health concerns, social injustices, climate change, and other urgent issues are important to address, solving these problems doesn’t depend on defunding space programs.

This can be a difficult conversation to navigate, so we’ve outlined a few ideas here that you can share when advocating for space.

Space research isn’t as expensive as people think

Many countries around the world invest in space science and exploration as a balanced part of their total federal budget. Public opinion research has shown that people estimate NASA to take up as much as a quarter of the U.S. federal budget, but in fact,  NASA’s budget only represents about 0.5% of the total federal budget and the proportion is even smaller for other spacefaring nations . The correct information may go a long way to reassuring critics that space spending isn’t eating up as many public resources as they think.

The United States government spent approximately $6.6 trillion in fiscal year 2020, of which just 0.3% ($22.6 billion) was provided to NASA. In this chart, shades of blue represent mandatory spending programs; shades of orange are discretionary programs that require annual appropriations by Congress. "Defense and related" includes both the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs. Source: Office of Management and Budget Historical Tables 8.5 and 8.7.

Space spending pays off

If someone is arguing that public funds should be spent on solving the world’s problems, they should know that money spent on NASA positively impacts the U.S. economy . We get the same kind of payoff for space spending in other countries. Spending on space supports highly skilled jobs, fuels technology advancements with practical applications, and creates business opportunities that feed back into the economy. This in turn grows the pool of public money that can be spent on solving the world’s most pressing problems.

Space research directly impacts Earthly problems

When people apply themselves to the challenges of exploring space, they make discoveries that can help the world in other ways too. Studying how we might grow food in orbit or on Mars yields insights into growing food in extreme conditions on Earth , generating knowledge that can help mitigate the impacts of climate change. Medical research conducted on the International Space Station helps us understand the human body in new ways, helping save lives and improve quality of life .

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Studying space helps us understand our own world

Studying the cosmos gives us an important perspective shift. When we learn about what lies beyond Earth, it gives us context for understanding our own planet. Studying the other worlds of our solar system and beyond makes it clear that Earth is a precious oasis for life. When we sent spacecraft to Venus we saw how a runaway greenhouse effect turned the world from a habitable planet to an absolute hellscape. When astronauts travel into space they see just how thin and tenuous Earth’s atmosphere is, appreciating the fragile balance in which we live . A cosmic perspective underscores the importance of protecting our planet’s habitability and encourages investment in that effort.

Studying space may one day save us all

All the social and environmental progress in the world won't help us if an asteroid impacts the Earth. We have to explore space to find and study the asteroids and comets in our cosmic neighborhood if we want to make sure we can  defend our planet  if an object ever heads our way.

Space is inspiring

Not every child who dreams of becoming an astronaut will get that opportunity. This is a sad truth that many of us know from experience. But to be inspired to aim for something so grand gives kids the motivation to study hard and gain skills in science, engineering, medicine, or other fields that benefit humanity and directly help overcome problems that we face as a species.

And inspiration isn’t just for kids. When we marvel at the beauty of Jupiter’s clouds or the mystery of Enceladus’ oceans , we get an opportunity to appreciate the wonder and majesty of this cosmos that we inhabit. The idea that life might exist elsewhere in the universe reminds us that we might not be the only planet struggling to achieve balance, justice, and sustainability. And even in the bleakest of times, there’s something beautiful about still striving to achieve something great and discover something that could change how we see ourselves and our cosmos forever.

There’s plenty of room at the table

There’s no denying that there are many important issues facing humanity that need fixing. But to deal with those problems doesn’t mean we have to stop looking up, stop exploring, and stop making discoveries.

Human civilization has astonishing capacity, and we can do more than one important thing at a time. If someone thinks that a particular issue should get more attention and investment, they can and should advocate for that. The problems we face don’t persist because we’re spending money on space science and exploration. And there’s no reason to pit our aspirations against one another.

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Boom in space tourism threatens to boost the amounts of space junk and climate emissions

Professor of Space Environment Physics, University of Reading

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Mike Lockwood receives funding from UKRI/Science and Technology Facilities Council and UKRI/Natural Environment Research Council

University of Reading provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

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Commercial companies are increasingly becoming involved in transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS), as well as other activities in orbit. Some, such as Houston-based Axiom Space, eventually want to build their own space stations in orbit , where commercial astronauts could make extended stays.

This could also provide more money and opportunities for science to be carried out in low Earth orbit. But it also raises a host of safety concerns, because it will add to the already troublesome issue of space junk. There are also implications for the environment, because rockets produce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change.

Axiom, which was founded in 2016, was the first company to conduct privately funded missions to the ISS. Under Axiom’s Space Access Program , it has been offering different countries the opportunity to design customised missions to orbit aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. As such, it recently signed an agreement with the UK Space Agency for an all-UK astronaut mission to the ISS.

Nasa is increasingly partnering with private companies to accomplish its space missions. However, initiatives such as the one with Axiom to fly multiple tourist missions to the ISS mark a new kind of commercialisation of space.

Axiom’s planned commercial space station will first be built as an add-on to the ISS. It will then be detached so that it becomes independent. Space tourism is a key part of its business model.

Axiom is not alone in its aims. Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, aerospace giant Northop Grumman, and smaller companies such as Nanoracks and Sierra Space are all developing their own space station designs. These are aimed at operating in low Earth orbit within the next decade.

Blue Origin, Northrop Grumman and Nanoracks have been awarded US$415 million (£335 million) by Nasa under the agency’s Low Earth Economy strategy to develop their space station concepts. In effect, the Nasa strategy uses public money to enable private companies to bring in commercial money. This private investment then helps provide the infrastructure needed for science and operations in low Earth orbit.

The scientific case for putting humans in space has historically been very weak – though not non-existent. Modern robotics and remote-control systems are now so good that the case is even weaker today than it ever was.

To most scientists, human space missions are vanity projects to do with national prestige. However, most will concede that there are huge benefits in terms of public engagement and inspiration. If they were fully costed, though, it’s unlikely that some experiments would be funded by the peer review panels of the science funding agencies.

Space junk concerns

There are also major concerns about risks posed by the increase in the general number of space missions, particularly because space junk is already a major problem in low Earth orbit. In 1978, Nasa scientist Donald J Kessler described the “Kessler syndrome” – a potential runaway effect where a collision in space could spark many more debris impacts, leading to the destruction of multiple spacecraft, or even the majority of low Earth orbit spacecraft .

Since 1999, the ISS has had to manoeuvre to avoid large pieces of space junk 32 times. Recently, the risk has been raised by a huge increase in the number of craft in low Earth orbit. In particular, since 2019, SpaceX and its competitors, such as OneWeb and Amazon Kuiper have embarked on programmes of launching tens of thousands of satellites into low Earth orbit to provide internet access .

However, less than 0.5% of internet traffic is currently carried by satellite communications. Despite the potential benefits to unconnected people in rural areas, upfront and subscription costs mean that Starlink’s current subscribers, make up less than 0.02% of the global population . They include many cruise ships , private jets and luxury yachts .

Environmental concerns

The other area of great concern is the environmental effect of sending more people to space. It would increase the climate impacts of space activities by an order of magnitude . This would exacerbate the problems society is already experiencing.

At present, the richest 1% of humans are emitting about 100 times more CO₂ than the poorest 10%. Internationally, policymakers are increasingly aware of the way that certain populations around the world may be affected more harshly by climate change than others. They are also aware of the pressures and instability generated by mass migration caused by climate change . Space tourism adds to this inequality.

There are other serious environmental concerns. Launches, particularly with solid rocket boosters, cause stratospheric ozone depletion . There are also worrying levels of atmospheric pollution by metals caused by so many launches and so much , re-entering debris .

This is an area that is moving forward with astounding speed. At first sight, it seems that we can harness the excitement and wonder of space travel to fund new opportunities for science and develop technology that’s of great benefit to humankind.

However, it would be wise to take the time to think through the potential consequences carefully. The human, or crewed, element means that the financial model of commercial human spaceflight is vulnerable to just a single failure, as the recent Titan submersible implosion proved.

Even more importantly, activities in low Earth orbit are a hugely valuable, yet vulnerable resource. They provide us with environmental and disaster monitoring systems, weather and climate monitoring, vegetation and crop growth measurements, geolocation and navigation (such as GPS) as well as communications.

Despite my previous comments about their main rationale not being scientific, space stations such as the ISS have provided some unique opportunities for working in zero gravity. There have been some remarkable impacts in, for example, medical and materials research.

We must not destroy the vital resource of low Earth orbit with space junk. And we cannot just ignore the implications for the climate and environmental justice.

• International Space Station (ISS)
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Column: In billionaires’ space race, tourism is a sideshow to quest for moon landing contracts

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The space race among billionaires Richard Branson, Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk reached a milestone of sorts Sunday when Branson rode a Virgin Galactic craft some 50 miles high into the wild blue yonder, launching what he called a world of “equal access to space” for people of any age, gender or ethnicity.

Don’t be fooled. The real target of these entrepreneurs’ efforts isn’t the small customer base of individuals rich enough to afford five- or six-figure thrill-ride tickets. It’s the billions of dollars to be spent by the U.S. and other governments on satellite and crewed exploration missions.

For the moment, popular attention appears to be focused on the billionaires’ launches; Bezos is scheduled to take a suborbital flight via the New Shepard launch vehicle of his Blue Origin spaceflight company July 20. (The craft is named for Alan Shepard, the first U.S. astronaut in space.)

I’m skeptical that this is a big business opportunity. It’s pretty much a niche market for wealthy individuals and adventure-seekers.

— Space expert John Logsdon, on the potential for space tourism

The holy grail of these endeavors is NASA’s plan to return crewed spacecraft to the moon, on which no human has set foot for 49 years, or since the last Apollo mission.

Dubbed Artemis after the twin sister of Apollo in Greek mythology, the program is aimed at reaching the moon before this decade is out and keeping a team on the surface for a sustained period.

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For the private companies tapped to participate, the harvest could be impressive: In April, NASA’s inspector general estimated that the space agency could spend as much as $86 billion on Artemis by the end of fiscal 2025, assuming that Congress appropriates the money. Tens of billions of dollars more would flow as the program moves toward its goal in subsequent years.

By contrast, experts believe that the market for individual space tourism is limited. “I’m skeptical that this is a big business opportunity,” John M. Logsdon, a professor emeritus at George Washington University and founder and long-term director of its Space Policy Institute, told me. “It’s pretty much a niche market for wealthy individuals and adventure-seekers.”

It’s also relatively undemanding in technical terms. Branson’s suborbital flight, which lasted about 15 minutes and afforded its four-person crew and two pilots about three minutes of weightlessness, required the craft to reach a speed of about Mach 3, or three times the speed of sound; an orbital flight would have required a speed of about Mach 17, Logsdon says.

I was once a child with a dream looking up to the stars. Now I'm an adult in a spaceship looking down to our beautiful Earth. To the next generation of dreamers: if we can do this, just imagine what you can do https://t.co/Wyzj0nOBgX #Unity22 @virgingalactic pic.twitter.com/03EJmKiH8V — Richard Branson (@richardbranson) July 11, 2021

And for all that Branson marked his flight’s apogee with an exhortation to “the next generation of dreamers: if we can do this, just imagine what you can do,” the first American suborbital flight, lasting about as long as Branson’s, was achieved by the baby boom generation. That flight, carrying Shepard, took place in 1961, or 60 years ago.

Virgin Galactic is competing with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Elon Musk’s SpaceX for a foothold in the space tourism market, for whatever that’s worth. Blue Origin and SpaceX are also in an intense battle with each other and United Launch Alliance, a joint venture of Boeing and Lockheed Martin, for government spaceflight contracts. (Blue Origin is also producing rocket engines for ULA .)

Artemis isn’t the only government program issuing contracts to private spaceflight companies; there’s also competition for satellite launches and for carrying crew and payloads to the International Space Station. But the moon program is NASA’s most ambitious and the one most likely to attract public attention to the contractors.

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As a result, Artemis is also the program most racked by intercorporate hostility and intrigue.

Most of the conflict has involved SpaceX and Blue Origin. Virgin Galactic hasn’t been a bidder on the moon project, though it was awarded part of a $45-million NASA contract to carry test payloads on its commercial flights.

A sister company in Branson’s corporate empire, Virgin Orbit, completed its first commercial mission June 30 . In that flight a Virgin Orbit craft placed seven satellites in low Earth orbit for three customers, including the U.S. Defense Department, which awarded the company a $35-million contract in 2017.

The rivalry for government contracts among the other companies isn’t hard to fathom. “The contracts are absolutely crucial because developing spaceflight isn’t cheap,” says Michael Listner of the consulting firm Space Law & Policy Solutions. “Otherwise they’d have to raise that money on their own, and that’s probably not going to happen. So they need these government contracts to actually survive.”

One problem all the moonshot rivals face is that Artemis is, at this moment, rather half-baked. Originally conceived in 2017 with the goal of placing a crew on the moon by 2028, its deadline was moved up to 2024 by the Trump White House only two years after the program was established. That’s a timeline that most experts say is unattainable.

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The Government Accountability Office reported in May that the accelerated schedule made it less likely that a lunar landing could happen in 2024, in part because many project components won’t be ready. “Most of the lunar projects are still early in development and some are relying on immature technology,” the GAO found.

Among other issues, the Gateway, a moon-orbiting outpost from which surface missions will be staged, would “rely on power and propulsion technology that has never before been used ,” the GAO said, adding that contractors are behind schedule developing the needed technology.

The Biden administration, which supports the Artemis program, hasn’t taken an explicit position on the deadline, though many believe that the administration will treat 2024 as an “aspirational” goal while redirecting the program toward a later landing.

Squabbling among the contractors and between them and NASA hasn’t helped. Nor have the conflicts been confined to the NASA program. In 2018, Musk clashed with the Defense Department over contracts totaling more than $2.2 billion for a series of military rocket launches starting in 2022.

The contracts were divided up among ULA, Northrop Grumman and Blue Origin, with SpaceX completely shut out. SpaceX filed a lawsuit asserting that the awards were the product of “prejudicial unequal treatment” by the Air Force. The case was thrown out last year by a federal judge in Los Angeles.

Wrangling between Blue Origin and SpaceX, possibly animated by personal hostility between Bezos and Musk, has become almost a permanent feature of spaceflight contracting. As long ago as 2015, the two billionaires, who are among the richest individuals on Earth, battled each other over a patent awarded to Blue Origin for landing reusable rockets on a barge in the ocean. SpaceX challenged the patent as unoriginal and won a split decision.

In April, after NASA awarded a $2.9-billion contract for a lunar lander to SpaceX, Blue Origin filed a protest that has prevented NASA from finalizing the award. (A final decision is expected next month.)

With this perspective, it seems evident that the race to shoot tourists into space is all about public relations. The main effect of the Branson flight, Logsdon says, was “all the free publicity it got for an emerging business” through wall-to-wall television coverage and front-page newspaper articles.

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Bezos, reduced to an also-ran in the billionaire-in-space rivalry, is trying to seize center stage by including Wally Funk, one of 13 women selected as the nation’s first female astronauts for Project Mercury, as a crewmate . (None of the 13 ever made it into space.)

The unasked question is how much value lies in crewed exploration of the moon beyond PR. The seven scientific priorities of Artemis as set forth by NASA — such as “observing the universe in a unique location” and “conducting experimental science in the lunar environment” — are almost all achievable by robots and other technology, at less cost and far greater safety than placing crews on the surface. The exception is “investigating and mitigating exploration risks to humans,” which obviously wouldn’t be necessary if humans were not on hand to be exposed to those risks.

The reality of space programs turns an old astronauts’ proverb (popularized by Tom Wolfe’s book “The Right Stuff”) on its head. The original version, alluding to a comic book space hero of yore, was “No bucks, no Buck Rogers,” meaning that without lavish infusions of money, there would be no heroism to celebrate.

What Branson and Bezos are counting on is the opposite — the need to celebrate individuals in space to acquire funding in the first place. In other words, “No Buck Rogers, no bucks.”

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Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Michael Hiltzik has written for the Los Angeles Times for more than 40 years. His business column appears in print every Sunday and Wednesday, and occasionally on other days. Hiltzik and colleague Chuck Philips shared the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for articles exposing corruption in the entertainment industry. His seventh book, “Iron Empires: Robber Barons, Railroads, and the Making of Modern America,” was published in 2020. His forthcoming book, “The Golden State,” is a history of California. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/hiltzikm and on Facebook at facebook.com/hiltzik.

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Opinion: Space Tourism

Summer 2016

The Next Big Adventure

Space tourism has come a long way since 1967 when Barron Hilton, then president of Hilton Hotels, described his vision for a hotel on the moon.

It was envisioned — complete with a Galaxy Lounge where visitors could enjoy a martini while looking at the stars — as a luxury for the wealthy elite.

Today, Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic aims to be the world’s first commercial “spaceline,” offering a 2.5-hour flight with six minutes of weightlessness and some incredible views. It even has more than 700 confirmed customers patiently waiting for flights. Additionally, Blue Origin, led by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, aims to provide space tourism as well. While space tourism remains largely a status symbol for the super rich, this trend is not unusual in the history of tourism. And there’s reason to believe that eventually this particular brand of tourism will advance a new form of adventure, boost the economy and make people more aware of the vulnerability of our planet.

That’s because tourists have always pushed boundaries, seeking new places and experiences. You see this playing out in how people are choosing to travel. According to Leisure and Aging , “Adventure tourism is one of the fastest-growing segments of the tourism market. It has become so popular that approximately 100 million adults have chosen vacations that are classified as soft adventure.” Space tourism is a logical next step for this growing trend.

In addition to adding another outlet for thrill seekers, space tourism offers a new way to boost the world’s economy. According to a report conducted by the World Travel & Tourism Council, tourism generated $7.2 trillion (9.8 percent of the global gross domestic product) and provided 284 million jobs — for a total of one out of every 11 jobs on the planet in 2015. There’s every reason to believe that commercial space travel will have a similar impact on the economy.

As space adventure will boost the economy, it likewise will increase our appreciation of how rare and valuable our own planet is. The experience of traveling out of Earth’s atmosphere and looking back on the world we inhabit produces a sense of awe and respect. Space travelers will gain a deeper appreciation for our planet and hopefully want to take a more active approach to protecting it when they return to terra firma.

While risks remain, it is fair to assume that space tourism has further to travel before it becomes the affordable domain of the middle class. But once it does, I am ready for the stellar adventure.

Alan Fyall   |   Orange County Professor of Tourism Marketing

The Next Big Disaster

In November, Congress voted to approve the U.S. Commercial Space Launch Competitiveness Act, which limits regulatory oversight, at least for eight more years, temporarily putting the responsibility on passengers instead of companies. For innovation and exploration, this lack of regulation is great news; for humans wanting to travel to space, it’s less so. In just the past two years the industry has experienced three catastrophic failures — two rockets exploding and one test flight crashing, resulting in the death of a pilot.

One could argue that space tourists travel at their own risk, but even that’s not entirely true. The impact of space travel on our planet puts all humans — not to mention plants and animals — at risk. Entrepreneurs investing in space travel, such as Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic, argue that space travel would reveal a smaller carbon footprint than normal air travel. But scientists worry about the soot or black carbon that results from rocket emissions. Soot accumulated in the stratosphere (approximately 5 to 31 miles above the Earth) cannot be washed away by rain or winds, as it is in the lower atmosphere. As a result, black carbon may linger in the stratosphere for years, causing exponentially more climate change. Some studies — estimating the potential soot accumulation based on assumed demand levels and simulations — reveal a grim picture, including massive sea ice loss, ozone layer depletion and temperature increases.

Even if these estimates are based on slightly dated technology, the current research in this area is far from adequate to set healthy premises for sound industry development. In addition to the lack of biological and physical evidence on causes and effects, there is also a lack of legal precedent for addressing our carbon footprint in space. Environmental law professional Jon Krois warns that while the National Environmental Policy and Clean Air acts “partially address the licensing of commercial spaceflights by the Federal Aviation Administration, neither space law nor current environmental law respond sufficiently to the environmental threat posed by this industry.”

As long as the space tourism industry is developed without the necessary cautions, it remains at risk of becoming the most anti-sustainable tourism sector, with pervasive negative impacts at the global scale. And I for one do not feel comfortable promoting the fancy of the few at the risk of our planet and all that call it home.

Asli Tasci   |  Assistant Professor

Billionaires in space? The pros and cons of space tourism

Would you pay to go to space let us know below.

⭐️HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW⭐️

• Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, just reached outer space.
• He and 2 other billionaires are on the front lines of space tourism.
• Soon space tourism might be for more than the rich.
• Read on to explore the pros and cons of the new industry. ⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️

Selfies with Saturn? Postcards from the International Space Station? Hotels on the moon?

Thanks to space tourism, those could all become realities.

On Tuesday, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos became the second billionaire within a week to reach outer space. He travelled aboard his company’s Blue Origin rocket on a spaceflight that lasted 10 minutes.

Joining Bezos was a hand-picked group including his brother, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands and an 82-year-old aviation pioneer from Texas — the youngest and oldest people to ever fly in space.

Jeff Bezos, third from the left, became the second billionaire within a week to reach outer space on July 20. He flew with Oliver Daemen, left, Mark Bezos, second from left, and Wally Funk, right. (Image credit: Joe Skipper/Reuters)

Last week, Virgin Galactic founder Sir Richard Branson was the first billionaire to head up to the skies, reaching 88 km above Earth’s surface and achieving weightlessness for several minutes.

Richard Branson, fourth from left, and his crew flew 88 km above Earth’s surface on July 12. Some experts say he didn’t go far enough. They say space officially begins 100 km above the Earth. (Image credit: Virgin Galactic)

And this fall, billionaire Elon Musk will also enter the space tourism game, as he prepares to send four people to space in one of his SpaceX rockets.

Billionaire Jared Isaacman, left, Hayley Arceneaux, Sian Proctor and Chris Sembroski are set to be SpaceX’s first crew to head to space in September. (Image credit: Inspiration 4/Reuters)

It might be years before most Canadians can afford a ticket to outer space, and even then, ticket costs are likely to be many thousands of dollars.

• 4 astronauts land in ocean, return safely to Earth with SpaceX

But some planetary experts say the upcoming space launches led by billionaires could bring about a new era of space exploration, where you no longer have to be an astronaut to fly.

It’s a pretty exciting idea, but what are the pros and cons of sending tourists to space?

1. It's downright cool

The biggest perk of going to space is, of course, the sightseeing.

In more than 300,000 years of human existence, only around 500 people have been able to glimpse the view from outside our atmosphere.

2. More space research 

This new era of tourism could make space science more accessible, said Marc Boucher, the founder and editor-in-chief of SpaceQ Media Inc., an online Canadian space news company based in London, Ontario.

The research that’s happening in space right now is “really expensive,” Boucher said.

“These flights of opportunities on these new suborbital vehicles will offer a much cheaper cost to do some of this research.”

3. New technologies

More space science could mean more cool, new inventions.

Many of our technologies are based on innovations that started in space, said Sara Mazrouei, a planetary scientist and educational developer at Ryerson University in Toronto.

“The last space race that we had to get to the moon gave us the technology for our running shoes, for our foam mattresses, for our bulletproof vests,” Mazrouei said.

“I'm really hopeful” that once we move beyond this initial set of billionaires getting to space, there will be room for more technological innovation, she said.

4. More space exploration overall  

Back in November 2020, many space experts remarked that SpaceX’s successful launch to the International Space Station marked a new era of space exploration.

• A ‘new era’ in space? SpaceX launches 4 astronauts to ISS

In November 2020, the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket became the first privately owned spacecraft used by NASA to reach the ISS. (Image credit: Joe Skipper/Reuters)

This included Canadian astronaut David Saint-Jacques.

“This is the dawn of a new era,” he said at the time. “[It] really opens up the door for cheaper, more frequent, more accessible access to Earth’s orbit.”

• An $85 million helicopter just made history flying on Mars

Saint-Jacques said this new level of access to space travel will allow national space agencies to “shift their focus” back to going to the Moon and eventually Mars.

1. It’s expensive

Currently, space tourism is not cheap, meaning very few people can afford to do it.

For example, Oliver Daemen, one of the crew members on Bezos’ flight, was a last-minute replacement for someone who paid $28 million US in an auction for their ticket.

His father bought the ticket for a lower, undisclosed price. 

Virgin Galactic already has more than 600 reservations from would-be space tourists, with tickets initially costing $250,000 US a piece.

Musk's SpaceX plans to take tourists on more than just brief, up-and-down trips. Instead, they will orbit the Earth for days and seats will cost well into the millions.

Although tickets are likely to go down in price as space tourism becomes more common, ticket prices will still be out of reach for most Canadians for the next several years.

2. It may be bad for the environment

Some experts say rocket launches could be damaging our ozone layer.

The ozone layer, which is within Earth’s stratosphere, is important for protecting us from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays.

Experts say that certain chemicals in rocket fumes are getting trapped in the stratosphere and are eating away at our ozone layer.

• How the pink supermoon and this funky plant are connected

Until now, the problem has flown under the radar, but with rocket launches becoming more frequent, the problem could become a much bigger contributor to climate change.

3. It may contribute to space junk

Any time something goes wrong in space, there is potential for spacecraft, satellites and other technology to be lost and trapped in Earth’s orbit.

Currently, there are millions of microshards of space junk that have accumulated in Earth’s orbit.

This illustration from the European Space Agency represents all the space debris 1 mm in size and larger that is currently orbiting Earth. (IRAS/TU Braunschweig)

Just a few months ago, one of those pieces of debris pierced through Canada’s robotic arm, called Canadarm, which is a fixture on the International Space Station.

There is a risk that more collisions will create more fragments, hence more collisions, in an escalating cascade of accidents.

That would make lower Earth orbit dangerous for the satellites we have come to depend on for global communications.

By sending so many more spacecraft into space through tourism without first solving the problem of space junk, the issue could be made even worse.

4. Things can still go wrong

Although we’ve come a long way since the 1960s in terms of space innovation and technology, there are still occasional examples of things going wrong.

Space is, after all, essentially like stepping into a microwave, with intense levels of pressure, supercharged cosmic rays, solar emissions and other dangers.

Until scientists find a way to perfect the safety of space travel, potential mishaps remain an important concern for the first space tourists of the next several years.

Submissions for our "Would you pay to go to space?" question have now closed. Thank you for submitting. 

With files from Nicole Mortillaro/CBC, Stephanie Dubois/CBC, The Associated Press and Chris Iorfida/CBC

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Space Tourism: Will It Be Worth the Money?

E ven before Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon’s surface in 1969, people were planning their holidays to space. A year earlier, when Apollo 8 showed the world the first image of Earth from orbit, airline Pan Am started taking advanced bookings for its first flight to the moon. But 40 years on, just a handful of private citizens have flown into space, and that’s only after going through rigorous medical examinations, enduring months of training and shelling out between $20 million and $45 million for the privilege.

This could be about to change. On Oct. 22, Richard Branson’s commercial space-flight company Virgin Galactic flew the world’s first commercial space craft over the world’s first commercial space port. The VSS Enterprise, which had already made its first solo flight two weeks earlier, took the short ceremonial trip to celebrate the completion of the runway at the space port in New Mexico. “This is history,” Branson declared to a crowd of reporters. “We’re making it right here.”

(See the inner workings of the U.S. space program.)

“Space tourism has definitely arrived,” says Stephen Attenborough, CEO of Virgin Galactic, which was founded in 2004. “The market is established. The vehicles are flying. It’s not a paper project.” He is confident that Galactic will be taking passengers by next year, but is unwilling to set an exact date. Tickets will cost $200,000, but, he says, prices are likely to fall swiftly as the industry grows. And Virgin is already facing competition from Space Adventures, which in 2001 was the first space-travel company to send a private citizen into space and in May this year announced that it will run similar flights to Virgin’s for more like $100,000. Experts says that in 10 years, the cost of a trip into space could drop to around $50,000.

But what will those astronomical sums get you? The Virgin Galactic experience will start with a couple of days light preparation: medical tests, safety training and some time for the space travelers and pilots to get to know each other. The aircraft will set off attached to a mother ship, which will climb to 50,000 feet before detaching. Then the Enterprise’s rocket motors will ignite, accelerating the ship to three times the speed of sound, taking it up over the Earth’s atmosphere. At that point, the engines will shut off, leaving passengers weightless, able to somersault freely, and, most importantly, see Earth from space. “That’s the point when the switch flicks,” says Attenborough. “You get an understanding of the fragility of life and the beauty of the planet.” After four or five minutes gravity will begin to drag the Enterprise back down to earth. The whole trip is over in less than an hour.

(See the Hubble Telespcope’s greatest hits.)

While Virgin Galactic is offering quick sub-orbital jaunts to just over the Earth’s atmosphere, Space Adventures is planning to take its customers even further, for longer. The company has already sent seven private citizens on orbital flights — which travel hundreds of thousands of miles, as opposed to sub-orbital’s 100 miles, and last around 10 days. CEO Eric Anderson says that while Space Adventures does plan to offer shorter flights, its focus is on developing orbital trips — with their price tag of $30 million each. Orbital is “absolutely a real space-travel experience,” says Anderson. “It’s the difference between tickets to the World Cup where you’re sitting in the front row and a five-second view of it on TV. It’s just not the same thing.”

(See pictures of what famous astronauts have done since returning to Earth.)

Sounds like good fun — but is it big business? It’s estimated that sending stuff into space costs NASA $20,000 per pound. Not cheap, but Virgin isn’t worried. “It’s certainly profitable or we wouldn’t be doing it,” says Virgin Galactic’s Attenborough. The company has so far had 80,000 people register their interest and taken $50 million worth of deposits, even before it has flown its first passengers. And last year Galactic received its first outside investor, Abu Dhabi-based global-investment company Aabar, which put $280 million into the business for a 32% share, a real vote of confidence in the fledgling industry.

So with major companies aiming high and big investors onboard, it seems space tourism is finally here — even if it’s not what we were hoping it would be. “We’re not going to be visiting space hotels on the moon for $10,000 in the next ten years,” says Space Adventures CEO Anderson. “But we might be within the next 50 years.” No doubt the room service will be out of this world.

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Space tourism - statistics & facts

What is the public’s opinion on space tourism, do the public want to travel to space, key insights.

Detailed statistics

Global sub-orbital space tourism market size 2021-2031, by flight vehicle type

Amount invested globally into space companies by venture capitalists 2013-2022

Equity investments in space companies worldwide 2013-2022, by type

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Travel, Tourism & Hospitality

Forecast revenue of orbital space travel and tourism worldwide 2021-2030

Share of U.S. adults who want to travel to space 2021

Further recommended statistics

Market overview.

• Premium Statistic Global sub-orbital space tourism market size 2021-2031, by flight vehicle type
• Premium Statistic Forecast revenue of orbital space travel and tourism worldwide 2021-2030
• Premium Statistic Amount invested globally into space companies by venture capitalists 2013-2022
• Premium Statistic Equity investments in space companies worldwide 2013-2022, by type
• Premium Statistic Share of investment deals in space start-ups worldwide by company in 2020
• Premium Statistic Distribution of space start-up investors by type 2000-2020

Sub-orbital space tourism market size worldwide in 2021, with a forecast for 2031, by flight vehicle type (in million U.S. dollars)

Forecast revenue of the orbital space travel and tourism market worldwide from 2021 to 2030 (in million U.S. dollars)

Amount venture capitalists invested into space companies worldwide from 2013 to 2022 (in billion U.S. dollars)

Cumulative equity investment in space companies worldwide from 2013 to 2022, by type (in billion U.S. dollars)

Share of investment deals in space start-ups worldwide by company in 2020

Distribution of investment deals on space start-ups worldwide in 2020, by company

Distribution of space start-up investors by type 2000-2020

Distribution of investor groups in space start-ups from 2000 to 2020, by investor type

Public opinion

• Premium Statistic U.S. public opinion on which private space companies are leading the space race 2021
• Premium Statistic U.S. opinion on which private space companies are leading the space race 2021, by age
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. adults that believe space travel should be accessible to everyone 2021
• Premium Statistic U.S. public opinion on profitability of space exploration companies in future 2021
• Premium Statistic U.S. adults that believe billionaires should spend money on space travel 2021

U.S. public opinion on which private space companies are leading the space race 2021

Public opinion on which space companies are leading the private sector's push into space in the United States as of December 2021

U.S. opinion on which private space companies are leading the space race 2021, by age

Public opinion on which space companies are leading the private sector's push into space in the United States as of December 2021, by generation

Share of U.S. adults that believe space travel should be accessible to everyone 2021

Share of adults that believe space travel should be accessible to everyone and not just those that can afford the costs in the United States as of September 2021

U.S. public opinion on profitability of space exploration companies in future 2021

Share of the public that believe private companies focused on space exploration will make a profit in the next 10 years in the United States as of December 2021

U.S. adults that believe billionaires should spend money on space travel 2021

Share of adults that believe billionaires should be spending money traveling to space in the United States as of September 2021

Traveler interest

• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. adults who want to travel to space 2021
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. adults who want to travel to space 2021, by gender
• Premium Statistic Share of the U.S. public who would go to the moon if money was not a factor 2021
• Premium Statistic Share of the U.S. public who would go to the moon in 2021, by generation
• Premium Statistic Share of the U.S. public who would go to the moon in 2021, by gender
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. adults who would travel to the moon 2021, by age
• Premium Statistic Share of U.S. adults who would spend over 100 thousand USD to travel to space 2021

Share of adults that would want to travel to space if money was not an issue in the United States as of September 2021

Share of U.S. adults who want to travel to space 2021, by gender

Share of adults that want to travel to space if money was not an issue in the United States as of September 2021, by gender

Share of the U.S. public who would go to the moon if money was not a factor 2021

Share of the public that would go to the moon as a tourist if money was not a factor in the United States as of December 2021

Share of the U.S. public who would go to the moon in 2021, by generation

Share of the public that would go to the moon as a tourist if money was not a factor in the United States as of December 2021, by generation

Share of the U.S. public who would go to the moon in 2021, by gender

Share of the public that would go to the moon as a tourist if money was not a factor in the United States as of December 2021, by gender

Share of U.S. adults who would travel to the moon 2021, by age

Share of adults that would travel to the moon in the United States as of May 2021, by age

Share of U.S. adults who would spend over 100 thousand USD to travel to space 2021

Share of adults that would spend more than 100 thousand U.S. dollars to travel to space in the United States as of September 2021

Further reports

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• Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/analysis-why-trash-in-space-is-a-major-problem-with-no-clear-fix

Analysis: Why trash in space is a major problem with no clear fix

There’s a lot of trash on the Moon right now – including nearly 100 bags of human waste – and with countries around the globe traveling to the Moon , there’s going to be a lot more, both on the lunar surface and in Earth’s orbit.

In August 2023, Russia’s Luna-25 probe crashed into the Moon’s surface, while India’s Chandrayann-3 mission successfully landed in the southern polar region, making India the fourth country to land on the Moon.

READ MORE: Space junk on 5,800-mph collision course with moon

With more countries landing on the Moon, people back on Earth will have to think about what happens to all the landers, waste and miscellaneous debris left on the lunar surface and in orbit.

I’m a professor of astronomy who has written a book about the future of space travel , articles about our future off-Earth , conflict in space , space congestion and the ethics of space exploration . Like many other space experts, I’m concerned about the lack of governance around space debris.

Space is getting crowded

People think of space as vast and empty, but the near-Earth environment is starting to get crowded. As many as 100 lunar missions are planned over the next decade by governments and private companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin.

Near-Earth orbit is even more congested than the space between Earth and the Moon. It’s from 100 to 500 miles straight up, compared with 240,000 miles to the Moon. Currently there are nearly 7,700 satellites within a few hundred miles of the Earth. That number could grow to several hundred thousand by 2027. Many of these satellites will be used to deliver internet to developing countries or to monitor agriculture and climate on Earth. Companies like SpaceX have dramatically lowered launch costs , driving this wave of activity.

“It’s going to be like an interstate highway, at rush hour in a snowstorm, with everyone driving much too fast,” space launch expert Johnathan McDowell told Space.com .

The problem of space junk

All this activity creates hazards and debris. Humans have left a lot of junk on the Moon, including spacecraft remains like rocket boosters from over 50 crashed landings , nearly 100 bags of human waste and miscellaneous objects like a feather, golf balls and boots. It adds up to around 200 tons of our trash .

Since no one owns the Moon , no one is responsible for keeping it clean and tidy .

READ MORE: China says SpaceX satellites nearly collided with its three-member crew space station

The clutter in Earth’s orbit includes defunct spacecraft, spent rocket boosters and items discarded by astronauts such as a glove, a wrench and a toothbrush. It also includes tiny pieces of debris like paint flecks.

There are around 23,000 objects larger than 10 cm (4 inches) and about 100 million pieces of debris larger than 1 mm (0.04 inches). Tiny pieces of junk might not seem like a big issue, but that debris is moving at 15,000 mph (24,140 kph), 10 times faster than a bullet. At that speed , even a fleck of paint can puncture a spacesuit or destroy a sensitive piece of electronics.

The amount of debris in orbit has increased dramatically since the 1960s.

In 1978, NASA scientist Donald Kessler described a scenario where collisions between orbiting pieces of debris create more debris, and the amount of debris grows exponentially, potentially rendering near-Earth orbit unusable. Experts call this the “ Kessler syndrome .”

Nobody is in charge up there

The United Nations Outer Space Treaty of 1967 says that no country can “own” the Moon or any part of it, and that celestial bodies should only be used for peaceful purposes. But the treaty is mute about companies and individuals, and it says nothing about how space resources can and can’t be used.

The United Nations Moon Agreement of 1979 held that the Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage of humanity. However, the United States, Russia and China never signed it, and in 2016 the U.S. Congress created a law that unleashed the American commercial space industry with very few restrictions.

Because of its lack of regulation, space junk is an example of a “ tragedy of the commons ,” where many interests have access to a common resource, and it may become depleted and unusable to everyone, because no interest can stop another from overexploiting the resource.

READ MORE: India becomes only the 4th country to successfully land a spacecraft on the moon

Scientists argue that to avoid a tragedy of the commons, the orbital space environment should be seen as a global commons worthy of protection by the United Nations . The lead author of a Nature article arguing for a global commons filed an amicus brief – a type of outside comment offering support or expertise – on a case that went to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit in late 2021.

The author and his research collaborators argued that U.S. environmental regulations should apply to the licensing of space launches. However, the court declined to rule on the environmental issue because it said the group lacked standing.

The tragedy of the commons asserts that if everyone has unlimited access to a resource, then in the long run it may become depleted and unusable.

National geopolitical and commercial interests will likely take precedence over interplanetary conservation efforts unless the United Nations acts. A new treaty may emerge from the work of the U.N. Office for Outer Space Affairs , which in May 2023 generated a policy document to address the sustainable development of activities in space.

The U.N. can regulate the activities of only its member states, but it has a project to help member states craft national-level policies that advance the goals of sustainable development.

NASA has created and signed the Artemis Accords , broad but nonbinding principles for cooperating peacefully in space. They have been signed by 28 countries, but the list does not include China or Russia. Private companies are not party to the accords either, and some space entrepreneurs have deep pockets and big ambitions.

The lack of regulation and the current gold rush approach to space exploration mean that space junk and waste will continue to accumulate, as will the related problems and dangers.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

Chris Impey is a university distinguished professor of astronomy at the University of Arizona.

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The significance of India’s successful landing on the moon’s south pole

World Aug 23

Why Accessible Space Travel Matters for Life on Earth

As someone who has lived and breathed the experience of navigating a world not always designed for me, the thought of space travel has always felt like a dream—a place where wheelchairs and paralysis would feel obsolete. But never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be able to experience it firsthand.

Just recently, as part of a documentary I co-produced with Reese Witherspoon’s company, Hello Sunshine, I took part in a zero-gravity flight. The experience was nothing short of life-changing. Floating weightless in zero gravity is something that words can’t quite capture.

Being the first British paraplegic woman to experience zero gravity meant so much more than just the thrill of weightlessness. It was a glimpse into a future where space is accessible to everyone , no matter their abilities.

Space travel is typically thought of as being for the most elite humans : astronauts, pilots, and people in peak physical condition. But AstroAccess, a pioneering nonprofit organization, proves that space should, and can, be for everyone. Their mission is to break down the barriers to space by ensuring that people with disabilities are part of its future. Whether you’re blind, deaf, or have a mobility impairment like me, AstroAccess is working tirelessly to ensure that space travel doesn’t just accommodate Disabled people—it includes us.

AstroAccess is working to ensure that the future of space travel is inclusive and accessible.

My zero-gravity flight was part of an ongoing series of missions to develop protocols and technologies to make space travel accessible. These missions include Disabled crew members like myself, allowing us to experience weightlessness and report back on what works and what doesn’t. This practical approach means that every flight isn’t just a test run for space tourism , it’s a crucial research mission designed to develop solutions that could change the future of space travel.

When I first learned I would be part of AstroAccess’s mission, my mind raced with questions. Would I feel weightless? How would I move in zero gravity? Would my wheelchair be an obstacle? All those questions melted away when we hit that first parabolic arc, the maneuver that creates the zero-gravity environment.

One minute, I was lying flat, and the next, I was floating. The sensation is unlike anything I’ve ever felt. It’s not just about freedom from gravity—it’s about freedom from the physical restrictions we encounter on earth. Suddenly, I wasn’t navigating a world built for the non-disabled; I was navigating a new world where my disability didn’t feel like a disadvantage. I could move freely, experience things in a way that was unique to me, and contribute insights that could shape future missions for other Disabled people.

Along with other Disabled participants, we were able to document and share our feedback with the AstroAccess team. This includes everything from designing adaptable spacecraft interiors to creating safety protocols for astronauts with various disabilities. This is about more than just making a few accommodations. It is about fundamentally redesigning how we think about space travel.

Beyond Barriers writer Sophie Morgan experiences the thrill of weightlessness on a zero-gravity flight.

You might ask yourself, “Why does making space accessible matter when there are so many issues here on Earth?” The answer is simple, as AstroAccess purports: “If we can make space accessible, surely we can make any space accessible.”

Space is often viewed as the ultimate challenge. It’s harsh, unpredictable, and unforgiving. If we can develop technologies and protocols that allow Disabled people to thrive in that environment, then we should be able to bring those innovations back to Earth.

Moreover, by making space accessible, we’re sending a powerful message: Disabled people belong in every aspect of human exploration, innovation, and progress. This project challenges outdated notions of what we can and cannot do and dismantles the barriers that have kept us sidelined in so many areas for so long. It shows the world that disability is not a limitation; it’s an inevitable part of day-to-day life, and failure to accommodate Disabled people will only put the entire human race at a disadvantage.

AstroAccess centers on the voices and experiences of Disabled people. From the outset, they’ve involved disabled scientists, engineers, and astronauts in their mission to ensure that accessibility isn’t an afterthought; it’s a cornerstone. Companies like SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin are also looking at ways to make space travel more inclusive.

The innovations being developed for space —new assistive technologies or adaptable designs—can be used to improve accessibility in everyday life. The ripple effect of making space accessible could transform the world for Disabled people in ways we can’t yet imagine.

So, as we look to the stars, let’s also look around us. The work happening for a future in space should pave the way for a more inclusive, accessible world here on Earth. If we can dream of a future where Disabled people explore the stars, we can certainly build a present where Disabled people have equal access to every aspect of life.

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