space tourism negative effects

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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Projected increase in space travel may damage ozone layer

• June 21, 2022
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Scientists from NOAA and The Aerospace Corp. modeled the climate response of the stratosphere to increased future emissions of black carbon from rockets burning kerosene fuel. Projected growth in rocket launches for space tourism, moon landings, and perhaps travel to Mars has many dreaming of a new era of space exploration. But a NOAA study suggests that a significant boost in spaceflight activity may damage the protective ozone layer on the one planet where we live.  Kerosene-burning rocket engines widely used by the global launch industry emit exhaust containing black carbon, or soot, directly into the stratosphere, where a layer of ozone protects all living things on the Earth from the harmful impacts of ultraviolet radiation, which include skin cancer and weakened immune systems in humans, as well as disruptions to agriculture and ecosystems.

According to new NOAA research published in the Journal of Geophysical Research Atmospheres, a 10-fold increase in hydrocarbon fueled launches, which is plausible within the next two decades based on recent trends in space traffic growth, would damage the ozone layer, and change atmospheric circulation patterns. “We need to learn more about the potential impact of hydrocarbon-burning engines on the stratosphere and on the climate at the surface of the Earth,” said lead author Christopher Maloney, a CIRES research scientist working in NOAA’s Chemical Sciences Laboratory. “With further research, we should be able to better understand the relative impacts of different rocket types on climate and ozone.” Launch rates have tripled  Launch rates have more than tripled in recent decades, Maloney said, and accelerated growth is anticipated in the coming decades. Rockets are the only direct source of human-produced aerosol pollution above the troposphere, the lowest region of the atmosphere, which extends to a height of about 5 to 10 miles above the Earth’s surface.  The research team used a climate model to simulate the impact of approximately 10,000 metric tons of soot pollution injected into the stratosphere over the northern hemisphere every year for 50 years. Currently,  an estimated 1,000 tons of rocket soot exhaust are emitted annually. The researchers caution that the exact amounts of soot emitted by the different hydrocarbon fueled engines used around the globe are poorly understood.  The researchers found that this level of activity would increase annual temperatures in the stratosphere by 0.5 – 2° Celsius or approximately 1-4°Farenheit, which would change global circulation patterns by slowing the subtropical jet streams as much as 3.5%, and weakening the stratospheric overturning circulation. 

Stratospheric ozone is strongly influenced by temperature and atmospheric circulation, noted co-author Robert Portmann, a research physicist with the Chemical Sciences Laboratory, so it was no surprise to the research team that the model found changes in stratospheric temperatures and winds also caused changes in the abundance of ozone. The scientists found ozone reductions occurred poleward of 30 degrees North, or roughly the latitude of Houston, in nearly all months of the year. The maximum reduction of 4% occurred at the North Pole in June. All other locations north of 30° N experienced at least some reduced ozone throughout the year. This spatial pattern of ozone loss directly coincides with the modeled distribution of black carbon and the warming associated with it, Maloney said.  “The bottom line is projected increases in rocket launches could expose people in the Northern Hemisphere to increased harmful UV radiation,” Maloney said.  The research team also simulated two larger emission scenarios of 30,000 and 100,000 tons of soot pollution per year to better understand the impacts of an extremely large increase in future space travel using hydrocarbon-fueled engines, and more clearly investigate the feedbacks that determine the atmosphere’s response. Results showed that the stratosphere is sensitive to relatively modest black carbon injections. The larger emission simulations showed a similar, yet more severe disruptions of atmospheric circulation and climate loss  than the 10,000 metric ton case.

Building a research foundation The study built on previous research by members of the author team. A 2010 study led by co-author Martin Ross, a scientist with The Aerospace Corporation, first explored the climate impact of an increase in soot-producing rocket launches. A second study performed at NOAA in 2017, on which Ross was a co-author, examined the climate response to water vapor emissions from a proposed reusable space launch system utilizing cleaner hydrogen-fueled rockets. “Our work emphasizes the importance of ozone depletion caused by soot particles emitted by liquid-fueled rockets,” Ross said. “These simulations change the long-held belief that spaceflight’s only threat to the ozone layer was from solid-fueled rockets. We’ve shown that particles are where the action is for spaceflight’s impacts.”   While the new research describes the influence that soot in rocket exhaust has on the climate and composition of the stratosphere, the scientists said it represents an initial step in understanding the spectrum of impacts on the stratosphere from increased space flight.   Combustion emissions from the different rocket types will need to be evaluated, they said.  Soot and other particles generated by satellites burning up when they fall out of orbit is also a growing, poorly understood source of emissions in the middle-to-upper atmosphere. These and other topics will need further research to produce a complete picture of space industry emissions and their impacts on Earth’s climate and ozone.   The study was supported by NOAA’s Earth’s Radiation Budget initiative. For more information, contact Monica Allen, NOAA Research Director of Public Affairs at [email protected] or 202-379-6693.

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Space Tourism Poses a Significant ‘Risk to the Climate’

Rockets launched by billionaires elon musk and richard branson emit black carbon in the stratosphere, where it is 500 times worse for the climate than it is on earth. billionaire jeff bezos’ rockets burn liquid hydrogen and oxygen and pose a lesser climate threat..

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The burgeoning space tourism industry could soon fuel significant global warming while also depleting the protective ozone layer that is crucial for sustaining life on Earth, a new study concludes.  The findings , published Saturday in Earth’s Future, raise additional concerns about the “billionaire space race” fueled by some of the world’s richest men.

A key focus of the study was emissions of black carbon, or soot, from the combustion of rocket fuel. Black carbon, which comes from burning fossil fuels or biomass, absorbs light from the sun and releases thermal energy, making it a powerful climate warming agent.  At lower altitudes black carbon quickly falls from the sky, remaining in the atmosphere for only a matter of days or weeks.

However, as rockets blast into space, they emit black carbon into the stratosphere where it remains, absorbing sunlight and radiating heat, for up to four years before falling back down to Earth. Black carbon emitted in the stratosphere is nearly 500 times worse for the climate than similar emission on or near the surface of the earth, the study found. Black carbon emissions from all space flights are currently relatively low but could quickly increase if projections for the growth of space tourism prove correct.

“A big ramp up in the number of space launches, which is hoped for by the space tourism industry, poses a risk to the climate by adding black carbon particles to the upper atmosphere and as a result, we should think very carefully about regulating this industry before it gets out of hand,” Robert Ryan, a researcher at University College London and the study’s lead author, said. “It would be a real shame for humanity to look back in 50 or 100 years when we’ve got thousands of rocket launches a year and think, ‘If only we’d done something.’”

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To calculate the impact of spaceflights, Ryan and colleagues produced an inventory of all pollutants released from the 103 rockets launched worldwide in 2019, as well as data on the re-entry of reusable rockets and space junk descending back into Earth’s atmosphere.

The researchers then plugged the emissions data into atmospheric chemistry and heat transfer models to determine their impact on ozone depletion and climate change. They also included recent projections of anticipated flights by space tourism companies Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX to plot potential future emissions from the industry.

After just three years of more than once-a-day rocket launches, space tourism would account for 6 percent of warming due to black carbon emissions despite contributing just 0.02 percent of global black carbon emissions, the study concluded.  

The study also found that rockets deplete the Earth’s atmospheric ozone layer, which protects the planet from harmful ultraviolet radiation from the sun. Rockets that burn solid, chlorine-based fuels harm ozone by releasing chlorine, which destroys ozone, directly into the stratosphere. Chlorine-containing chemicals, such as chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), were banned under the Montreal Protocol, an international agreement to protect atmospheric ozone that was adopted in 1987. Solid fuel rockets were not part of the ban.

Regardless of the fuel type used, all rockets contributed to additional ozone depletion through the emissions of nitrogen oxides upon re-entry into the stratosphere.     

A second study that also looked at the climate and ozone impacts of rocket launches and was published earlier this month, came to similar conclusions. The study , published in JGR Atmospheres, projected that increased emissions from space tourism would also disrupt global atmospheric circulation, slowing the transport of air from the tropics to the poles in the upper atmosphere.

This decrease in circulation would result in a slight reduction of atmospheric ozone concentrations in the northern hemisphere, said Christopher Maloney, the study’s lead author and a research scientist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

“Anytime you see anything that impacts ozone, it’s worthy of further investigation,” he said.

Stephen Andersen, research director for the Washington-based Institute for Governance and Sustainable Development, said the recent studies further the climate and ozone concerns related to rocket launches that NASA scientists first raised nearly half a century ago.

“Over the last 45 years, they came to the same conclusion,” Andersen said of research done by NASA and others. “Current emissions are not a significant source, but they would be incredibly significant if the projections of space flights prove true.”

By one measure, public opinion turned against space tourism last year as some of the world’s most wealthy individuals blasted into space amid an ever-warming climate and the ongoing Covid pandemic.  

U.S. spaceflight company Virgin Galactic, which was founded by British billionaire Richard Branson and hopes to offer 400 flights per year from its “spaceport” in New Mexico, did not respond to a request for comment.

But, the company appears to be aware of the climate concerns posed by space tourism. In its most recent annual financial report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Virgin Galactic stated that the company “may be adversely affected by global climate change or by legal, regulatory or market responses to such change.”

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Blue Origin, the space tourism company owned by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, envisions “millions of people living and working in space for the benefit of Earth.” 

Company executives did not respond to a request for comment. Blue Origin’s rockets burn liquid hydrogen and oxygen and emit water vapor and nitrogen oxides, but not black carbon. Emissions from hydrogen fuel rockets in the upper atmosphere pose less of a threat than other rocket types, but emissions of nitrogen oxides in the stratosphere and the emissions that go into producing liquid hydrogen on earth are still a concern, Ryan said.  

Elon Musk, the founder of SpaceX and the world’s richest person, tweeted in December that SpaceX plans to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and turn it into rocket fuel. Musk is also funding a $100 million prize for the development of carbon removal . While many seek to turn CO2 into fuel, such efforts remain unproven. Rockets that burn fuel derived from carbon dioxide would also likely result in emissions of black carbon and nitrogen oxides in the upper atmosphere.

Andersen said efforts to reduce emissions are helpful but international regulations are needed to curb climate and ozone threats posed by increased commercial space flights.

“They need to think before they act and they ought to consider all the options of minimizing the impact,” he said. “Then the final decision over whether it’s worthwhile to society to allow this enterprise should be made in some kind of a governance way.”

Phil McKenna

Reporter, boston.

Phil McKenna is a Boston-based reporter for Inside Climate News. Before joining ICN in 2016, he was a freelance writer covering energy and the environment for publications including The New York Times, Smithsonian, Audubon and WIRED. Uprising, a story he wrote about gas leaks under U.S. cities, won the AAAS Kavli Science Journalism Award and the 2014 NASW Science in Society Award. Phil has a master’s degree in science writing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and was an Environmental Journalism Fellow at Middlebury College.

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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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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.

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There’s No Way to Make Space Travel Good for Planet Earth Right Now

S paceX has never been reluctant to brag, especially when it comes to its celebrated Falcon 9 rocket. Since 2010, as a company toteboard shows, 217 Falcon 9s have flown, with 61 launches in 2022 alone, making it the workhorse of the current global space fleet. So what’s not to like? Plenty, actually—at least if you care about the environment.

The Falcon 9 uses a fuel mixture of liquid oxygen and simple kerosene, and while the oxygen does not do any harm to the skies, the black soot created by the burning kerosene is injected directly into the stratosphere—the layer of air ranging from 12 km (7.5 mi.) to 50 km (31 mi.) above the Earth. There the soot lingers for up to five years , absorbing heat, contributing to climate change, and damaging the ozone layer, which exposes the planet to dangerous ultraviolet (UV) radiation. And SpaceX is not remotely alone.

According to a study by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), global rocket launches (of which there were 180 last year, the study notes) inject about 1,000 tons of soot into the upper atmosphere per year. That will only get worse, NOAA warns, as the industry continues to expand. “The bottom line is projected increases in rocket launches could expose people in the Northern Hemisphere [where most rocket launches take place] to increased harmful UV radiation,” environmental scientist Christopher Maloney, the study’s lead author, said in a statement .

By themselves, rocket launches are small contributors to overall atmospheric pollutants. The aviation industry burns 100 times more fuel each year than all of the rockets launched globally combined. But there is a key atmospheric difference: airplanes fly in the troposphere about 11 km (6.6 mi.) above the ground. Soot precipitates quickly from this range compared to stratospheric soot which sticks around much longer. Indeed, according to the NOAA report, a single passenger aboard a rocket is responsible for 100 times more climate-changing pollution than a passenger aboard an airplane.

Not only does all of this warm the planet and damage the ozone, the NOAA scientists warn, but the change in temperatures can also slow subtropical jet streams , worsening summer monsoons in Africa and India. “We need to learn more about the potential impact of hydrocarbon-burning engines on the stratosphere and on the climate at the surface of the Earth,” said Maloney.

A version of this story also appears in the Climate is Everything newsletter. To sign up, click here .

The type of fuel used in the rockets can make a difference. SpaceX’s massive, 33-engine Starship spacecraft , for example, uses methane in place of kerosene. While methane is a powerful greenhouse gas by itself, it does burn cleaner than kerosene, putting out less black soot. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket is cleaner still, burning liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen, and producing only water vapor as an exhaust—water vapor in the upper atmosphere still traps and retains heat, but not nearly as much as black soot, methane, or carbon dioxide do.

None of this means that the private rocket industry or growing space powers like China, India, and the United Arab Emirates—to say nothing of the U.S.—will be slowing down their launch schedules or becoming less pollution-intensive any time soon. Indeed, NASA’s new Space Launch System moon rocket, which first launched in November 2022, is an especially dirty machine. While it uses a liquid oxygen-hydrogen mix in its four main engines, its two attached solid fuel engines, which account for most of the vehicle’s thrust, produce the ozone-damaging pollutant chlorine.

The thriving space industry is typically seen as a boon for both the economy and for human exploration—and it is. But the launching of a monster rocket—with monster exhaust—like SpaceX’s anticipated Starship is a reminder that there can be too much of a good thing. If we keep increasing not just the size of rockets but the number of launches, we do so at a price; and as with so many other things, it is the climate that pays.

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Geographical

Official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG)

A rise in space tourism poses serious risks to Earth

17 August 2022 2 minutes

Soot from space tourism is 500 times more damaging for the climate than soot from all other sources

Space tourism could undo decades of work to repair the ozone layer and have a greater effect on the climate than the aviation industry, according to a new study by scientists at UCL, MIT and the University of Cambridge.

It’s been a year since Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos kickstarted the billionaire space race, after launching their private suborbital rockets last July, and thousands of seat reservations have already been made for the first commercial flights into space. Companies specialising in space tourism have routinely played down the impact that the industry will have on the environment, often likening rocket emissions to those of the aircraft industry, but this is an ‘erroneous’ comparison, says co-author Eloise Marais.

One of the key impacts investigated was emissions of black carbon, commonly known as soot, from rocket fuel combustion. Soot is a major contributor to climate change, absorbing solar radiation which heats the atmosphere and accelerates snow and ice melt . The results of the study show that soot particles from rockets are 500 times more efficient at retaining heat than all other surface and aviation soot sources. ‘Soot particles from rocket launches have a much larger climate effect than aircraft and other Earth-bound sources, so there doesn’t need to be as many rocket launches as international flights to have a similar impact,’ says Marais.

The study also highlights the need for further research on the impact of commercial space launches on ozone levels. Pollutants from chlorine-based solid-fuel rockets, and re-entry heating of returning spacecraft (which releases nitrogen oxides) and debris are particularly harmful to stratospheric ozone . So far, there has been little impact on the ozone layer, but predicted growth trends for space tourism indicate that the combination of these emissions could significantly offset the reversal in ozone depletion achieved since the introduction of the Montreal Protocol in 1987. ‘ What we really need now is a discussion amongst experts on the best strategy for regulating this rapidly growing industry,’ says Marais.

Published in the UK since 1935, Geographical is the official magazine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) . Informative, authoritative and educational, this site’s content covers a wide range of subject areas, including geography, culture, wildlife and exploration, illustrated with superb photography.

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Climate damage caused by growing space tourism needs urgent mitigation

25 June 2022

A formidable space tourism industry may have a greater climate effect than the aviation industry and undo repair to the protective ozone layer if left unregulated, according to a new study led by UCL.

Published today in the journal  Earth’s Future , researchers from UCL, the University of Cambridge and Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) used a 3D model to explore the impact of rocket launches and re-entry in 2019, and the impact of projected space tourism scenarios based on the recent billionaire space race.

The team found that black carbon (soot) particles emitted by rockets are almost 500 times more efficient at holding heat in the atmosphere than all other sources of soot combined (surface and aircraft) – resulting in an enhanced climate effect.

Furthermore, while the study revealed that the current loss of total ozone due to rockets is small, current growth trends around space tourism indicate potential for future depletion of the upper stratospheric ozone layer in the Arctic in spring. This is because pollutants from solid-fuel rockets and re-entry heating of returning spacecraft and debris are particularly harmful to stratospheric ozone.

Study co-author Dr Eloise Marais (UCL Geography) said: “Rocket launches are routinely compared to greenhouse gas and air pollutant emissions from the aircraft industry, which we demonstrate in our work is erroneous.

“Soot particles from rocket launches have a much larger climate effect than aircraft and other Earth-bound sources, so there doesn’t need to be as many rocket launches as international flights to have a similar impact. What we really need now is a discussion amongst experts on the best strategy for regulating this rapidly growing industry.”

To calculate the findings, the researchers collected information on the chemicals from all 103 rocket launches in 2019 from across the world, as well as data on reusable rocket and space junk re-entry. They also used the recent demonstrations by space tourism entrepreneurs   Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin and SpaceX   and proposed yearly offerings of at least daily launches by Virgin Galactic to construct a scenario of a future formidable   space tourism industry.

These data were then incorporated into a 3D atmospheric chemistry model to explore the impact on climate and the ozone layer.

The team show that warming due to soot is 3.9 mW m-2 from a decade of contemporary rockets, dominated by emissions from kerosene-fuelled rockets. However, this more than doubles (7.9 mW m-2) after just three years of additional emissions from space tourism launches, due to the use of kerosene by SpaceX and hybrid synthetic rubber fuels by Virgin Galactic.

The researchers say this is of particular concern, as when the soot particles are directly injected into the upper atmosphere, they have a much greater effect on climate than other soot sources - with the particles 500 times more efficient at retaining heat.

The team found that, under a scenario of daily or weekly space tourism rocket launches, the impact on the stratospheric ozone layer threatens to undermine the recovery experienced after the successful implementation of the Montreal Protocol.

Adopted in 1987, the Montreal Protocol global ban on substances that deplete the ozone layer is considered one of the most successful international environmental policy interventions.

Study co-author Dr Robert Ryan said: “The only part of the atmosphere showing strong ozone recovery post-Montreal Protocol is the upper stratosphere, and that is exactly where the impact of rocket emissions will hit hardest. We weren’t expecting to see ozone changes of this magnitude, threatening the progress of ozone recovery.

“There is still a lot we need to find out about the influence of rocket launch and re-entry emissions on the atmosphere - in particular, the future size of the industry and the types and by-products of new fuels like liquid methane and bio-derived fuels.

“This study allows us to enter the new era of space tourism with our eyes wide open to the potential impacts. The conversation about regulating the environmental impact of the space launch industry needs to start now so we can minimise harm to the stratospheric ozone layer and climate.”

• The full paper in Earth's Future
• Dr Eloise Marais' academic profile
• Dr Robert Ryan academic profile
• UCL Department of Geography
• UCL Faculty of Social & Historical Sciences 
• Credit:  3DSculptor / iStock

Media Contact 

Evie calder.

Tel: +44 20 7679 8557 E: e.calder [at] ucl.ac.uk

The jaw-droppingly high, out-of-this-world carbon footprint of space tourism

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The commercial race to get tourists to space is heating up between Virgin Group founder Sir Richard Branson and former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. On July 11, Branson ascended 80 km (49 miles) to reach the edge of space in his piloted Virgin Galactic VSS Unity spaceplane, while Bezos’ autonomous Blue Origin rocket launched today on July 20 , coinciding with the anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing. Although Bezos launched later than Branson, he set out to reach higher altitudes — about 120 km, or 74 miles .

The launch demonstrates a new type of offering to very wealthy tourists: The opportunity to truly reach outer space. Tour packages will provide passengers with a brief 10-minute frolic in zero gravity and glimpses of Earth from space. Not to be outdone, later in 2021, Elon Musk’s SpaceX will provide four to five days of orbital travel with its Crew Dragon capsule.

What are the environmental consequences of a space tourism industry likely to be? Bezos boasts that his Blue Origin rockets are greener than Branson’s VSS Unity. The Blue Engine 3 (BE-3)  launched Bezos, his brother and two guests into space using liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellants.

VSS Unity, on the other hand, used a hybrid propellant comprised of a solid carbon-based fuel, hydroxyl-terminated polybutadiene (HTPB), and nitrous oxide (or laughing gas), while the SpaceX Falcon series of reusable rockets will propel the Crew Dragon into orbit using liquid kerosene and liquid oxygen.

Burning these propellants provides the energy needed to launch rockets into space — but it simultaneously generates greenhouse gases and air pollutants. Large quantities of water vapor are also produced by burning the BE-3 propellant, while combustion of both the VSS Unity and Falcon fuels produces CO2, soot and some water vapor. The nitrogen-based oxidant used by VSS Unity also generates nitrogen oxides, compounds that contribute to air pollution closer to Earth. Roughly two-thirds of this propellant exhaust is released into the stratosphere (12 km-50 km) and mesosphere (50 km-85 km), where it can persist for at least two to three years.

The very high temperatures during launch and re-entry (which is when the protective heat shields of the returning crafts burn up) also convert stable nitrogen in the air into reactive nitrogen oxides. These gases and particles have many negative effects on the atmosphere. In the stratosphere, nitrogen oxides and chemicals formed from the breakdown of water vapor convert ozone into oxygen and deplete the ozone layer which guards life on Earth against harmful UV radiation.

Water vapor also produces stratospheric clouds that provide a surface for this reaction to occur at a faster pace than it otherwise would.

Space tourism and climate change

What’s more, CO2 exhaust emissions and soot trap heat in the atmosphere, contributing to global warming. Cooling of the atmosphere can also occur, as clouds formed from the emitted water vapor reflect incoming sunlight back to space. A depleted ozone layer would also absorb less incoming sunlight, and so heat the stratosphere less.

Figuring out the overall effect of rocket launches on the atmosphere will require detailed modeling, in order to account for these complex processes and the persistence of these pollutants in the upper atmosphere. Equally important is a clear understanding of how the space tourism industry will develop.

Virgin Galactic anticipates it will offer 400 spaceflights each year to the privileged few who can afford them. Blue Origin and SpaceX have yet to announce their plans. But globally, rocket launches wouldn’t need to increase by much from the current 100 or so performed each year to induce harmful effects that are competitive with other sources , like ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), and CO2 from aircraft.

During launch, rockets can emit between 4 and 10 times more nitrogen oxides than Drax , the largest thermal power plant in the UK, over the same time period. CO2 emissions for the four or so tourists on a space flight will be between 50 and 100 times more than the one to three tonnes of emissions that are generated per passenger on a long-haul airplane flight.

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

What are the origins of spaceflight? It all started with science fiction. Watch the full Talk to learn more: 

About the author

Eloise Marais is an Associate Professor in Physical Geography at UCL. Marais leads a research group that addresses long-standing uncertainties about the chemical composition of the atmosphere and determines the influence of humans on the environment, air quality and climate.

• carbon dioxide
• carbon emissions
• climate change
• society and culture
• space tourism

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July 18, 2021

Environmental concerns grow as space tourism lifts off

by Issam Ahmed

After years of waiting, Richard Branson's journey to space this month on a Virgin Galactic vessel was supposed to be a triumphant homecoming. Instead, the jaunt attracted significant criticism—about its carbon footprint.

With Jeff Bezos set to launch on a Blue Origin rocket on July 20, and Elon Musk's SpaceX planning an all-civilian orbital mission in September, the nascent space tourism industry finds itself facing tough questions about its environmental impact .

Right now, rocket launches as a whole don't happen often enough to pollute significantly.

"The carbon dioxide emissions are totally negligible compared to other human activities or even commercial aviation," NASA's chief climate advisor Gavin Schmidt told AFP.

But some scientists are worried about the potential for longer term harm as the industry is poised for major growth, particularly impacts to the ozone layer in the still poorly understood upper atmosphere.

Virgin Galactic, which came under fire in op-eds on CNN and Forbes, as well as on social media, for sending its billionaire founder to space for a few minutes in a fossil fuel-guzzling spaceship, says its carbon emissions are about equivalent to a business-class ticket from London to New York.

The company "has already taken steps to offset the carbon emissions from its test flights and is examining opportunities to offset the carbon emissions for future customer flights, and reduce our supply chain's carbon footprint ," it said in a statement to AFP.

But while transatlantic flights carry hundreds of people, Virgin's emissions work out to around 4.5 tonnes per passenger in a six passenger flight, according to an analysis published by French astrophysicist Roland Lehoucq and colleagues in The Conversation.

That's roughly equivalent to driving a typical car around the Earth, and more than twice the individual annual carbon budget recommended to meet the objectives of the Paris climate accord.

"The issue here is really one of disproportionate impacts," Darin Toohey, an atmospheric scientist at the University of Colorado, Boulder told AFP.

"I actually grew up on the space program and that got me into science.... but if someone offered me a free ride, I would be very nervous taking it because I would know that my own footprint is way larger than it should be," he said.

Cleaner fuels possible

Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo uses a type of synthetic rubber as fuel and burns it in nitrous oxide, a powerful greenhouse gas.

The fuel pumps black carbon into upper stratosphere, 30-50 kilometers (18 to 30 miles) high.

Once there, these particles can have multiple impacts, from reflecting sunlight and causing a nuclear winter effect, to accelerating chemical reactions that deplete the ozone layer , which is vital to protecting people from harmful radiation.

"We could be at a dangerous point," said Toohey, who wants more scientific investigations into these effects before the launches become more frequent.

Virgin has said it wants to conduct 400 flights a year.

Compared to Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes, Blue Origin's are much cleaner, according to a recent paper by scientist Martin Ross of Aerospace, which Bezos' company plugged on Twitter.

That's because it burns liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen, which combusts as water vapor.

Ross' paper found Blue Origin's vertical launch reusable rocket causes a hundred times less ozone loss and 750 times less climate forcing magnitude than Virgin's, according to ballpark calculations.

But that doesn't mean it's totally clean.

"It takes electricity to make liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen," Ross told AFP.

"You could go back and calculate how much electricity was used to make the propellant," he said. "It depends how far back in the supply chain you look."

Space shaming?

The impact of suborbital launches such as those by Virgin and Blue Origin pale in comparison to the impact of rockets that achieve orbit.

When SpaceX puts four private citizens into space in September, it will use its Falcon 9 rocket, which calculations show puts out the equivalent of 395 transatlantic flights-worth of carbon emissions .

"We are living in the era of climate change and starting an activity that increases emissions as part of a tourism activity is not good timing," Annette Toivonen, author of the book "Sustainable Space Tourism," told AFP.

The world is far more aware of the climate crisis now than when these companies were founded in the early 2000s and that could encourage businesses to look at ways to minimize pollution through cleaner technologies to get ahead of the problem.

"Who would want to be a space tourist if you can't tell people you were a space tourist?" argued Toivonen, who lectures at Finland's Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences.

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The Future of Space Tourism Is Now. Well, Not Quite.

From zero-pressure balloon trips to astronaut boot camps, reservations for getting off the planet — or pretending to — are skyrocketing. The prices, however, are still out of this world.

By Debra Kamin

Ilida Alvarez has dreamed of traveling to space since she was a child. But Ms. Alvarez, a legal-mediation firm owner, is afraid of flying, and she isn’t a billionaire — two facts that she was sure, until just a few weeks ago, would keep her fantasy as out of reach as the stars. She was wrong.

Ms. Alvarez, 46, and her husband, Rafael Landestoy, recently booked a flight on a 10-person pressurized capsule that — attached to a massive helium-filled balloon — will gently float to 100,000 feet while passengers sip champagne and recline in ergonomic chairs. The reservation required a $500 deposit; the flight itself will cost $50,000 and last six to 12 hours.

“I feel like it was tailor-made for the chickens like me who don’t want to get on a rocket,” said Ms. Alvarez, whose flight, organized by a company called World View , is scheduled to depart from the Grand Canyon in 2024.

Less than a year after Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson kicked off a commercial space race by blasting into the upper atmosphere within weeks of each other last summer, the global space tourism market is skyrocketing, with dozens of companies now offering reservations for everything from zero-pressure balloon trips to astronaut boot camps and simulated zero-gravity flights. But don’t don your spacesuit just yet. While the financial services company UBS estimates the space travel market will be worth $3 billion by 2030, the Federal Aviation Administration has yet to approve most out-of-this-world trips, and construction has not started on the first space hotel. And while access and options — not to mention launchpads — are burgeoning, space tourism remains astronomically expensive for most.

First, what counts as space travel?

Sixty miles (about 100 kilometers) above our heads lies the Kármán line, the widely accepted aeronautical boundary of the earth’s atmosphere. It’s the boundary used by the Féderátion Aéronautique Internationale, which certifies and controls global astronautical records. But many organizations in the United States, including the F.A.A. and NASA, define everything above 50 miles to be space.

Much of the attention has been focused on a trio of billionaire-led rocket companies: Mr. Bezos’ Blue Origin , whose passengers have included William Shatner; Mr. Branson’s Virgin Galactic , where tickets for a suborbital spaceflight start at $450,000; and Elon Musk’s SpaceX , which in September launched an all-civilian spaceflight, with no trained astronauts on board. Mr. Branson’s inaugural Virgin Galactic flight in 2021 reached about 53 miles, while Blue Origin flies above the 62-mile mark. Both are eclipsed by SpaceX, whose rockets charge far deeper in to the cosmos, reaching more than 120 miles above Earth.

Balloons, like those operated by World View, don’t go nearly as high. But even at their maximum altitude of 18 or 19 miles, operators say they float high enough to show travelers the curvature of the planet, and give them a chance to experience the overview effect — an intense perspective shift that many astronauts say kicks in when you view Earth from above.

Now, how to get there …

Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, which are both licensed for passenger space travel by the F.A.A., are open for ticket sales. (Blue Origin remains mum on pricing.) Both companies currently have hundreds or even thousands of earthlings on their wait lists for a whirl to the edge of space. SpaceX charges tens of millions of dollars for its further-reaching flights and is building a new facility in Texas that is currently under F.A.A. review.

Craig Curran is a major space enthusiast — he’s held a reserved seat on a Virgin Galactic flight since 2011 — and the owner of Deprez Travel in Rochester, N.Y. The travel agency has a special space travel arm, Galactic Experiences by Deprez , through which Mr. Curran sells everything from rocket launch tickets to astronaut training.

Sales in the space tourism space, Mr. Curran acknowledges, “are reasonably difficult to make,” and mostly come from peer-to-peer networking. “You can imagine that people who spend $450,000 to go to space probably operate in circles that are not the same as yours and mine,” he said.

Some of Mr. Curran’s most popular offerings include flights where you can experience the same stomach-dropping feeling of zero gravity that astronauts feel in space, which he arranges for clients via chartered, specialized Boeing 727s that are flown in parabolic arcs to mimic being in space. Operators including Zero G also offer the service; the cost is around $8,200.

You can almost count the number of completed space tourist launches on one hand — Blue Origin has had four; SpaceX, two. Virgin Galactic, meanwhile, on Thursday announced the launch of its commercial passenger service, previously scheduled for late 2022, was delayed until early 2023. Many of those on waiting lists are biding their time before blastoff by signing up for training. Axiom Space, which contracts with SpaceX, currently offers NASA-partnered training at Houston’s Johnson Space Center. Virgin Galactic, which already offers a “customized Future Astronaut Readiness program” at its Spaceport America facility in New Mexico, is also partnering with NASA to build a training program for private astronauts.

Would-be space tourists should not expect the rigor that NASA astronauts face. Training for Virgin Galactic’s three-hour trips is included in the cost of a ticket and lasts a handful of days; it includes pilot briefings and being “fitted for your bespoke Under Armour spacesuit and boots,” according to its website.

Not ready for a rocket? Balloon rides offer a less hair-raising celestial experience.

“We go to space at 12 miles an hour, which means that it’s very smooth and very gentle. You’re not rocketing away from earth,” said Jane Poynter, a co-founder and co-chief executive of Space Perspective , which is readying its own touristic balloon spaceship, Spaceship Neptune. If all goes according to plan, voyages are scheduled to begin departing from Florida in 2024, at a cost of $125,000 per person. That’s a fraction of the price tag for Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, but still more than double the average annual salary of an American worker.

Neither Space Perspective nor World View has the required approval yet from the F.A.A. to operate flights.

Unique implications

Whether a capsule or a rocket is your transport, the travel insurance company battleface launched a civilian space insurance plan in late 2021, a direct response, said chief executive Sasha Gainullin, to an increase in space tourism interest and infrastructure. Benefits include accidental death and permanent disablement in space and are valid for spaceflights on operators like SpaceX, Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic, as well as on stratospheric balloon rides. They’ve had many inquiries, Mr. Gainullin said, but no purchases just yet.

“Right now it’s such high-net-worth individuals who are traveling to space, so they probably don’t need insurance,” he said. “But for quote-unquote regular travelers, I think we’ll see some takeups soon.”

And as the industry grows, so perhaps will space travel’s impact on the environment. Not only do rocket launches have immense carbon footprints, even some stratospheric balloon flights have potentially significant implications: World View’s balloons are powered by thousands of cubic meters of helium, which is a limited resource . But Ted Parson, a professor of environmental law at the University of California, Los Angeles, said that space travel’s environmental impact is still dwarfed by civil aviation. And because space travel is ultra-niche, he believes it’s likely to stay that way.

“Despite extensive projections, space tourism is likely to remain a tiny fraction of commercial space exploration,” he said. “It reminds me of tourism on Mt. Everest. It’s the indulgence of very rich people seeking a transcendent, once-in-a-lifetime experience, and the local environmental burden is intense.”

Stay a while?

In the future, space enthusiasts insist, travelers won’t be traveling to space just for the ride. They’ll want to stay a while. Orbital Assembly Corporation, a manufacturing company whose goal is to colonize space, is currently building the world’s first space hotels — two ring-shaped properties that will orbit Earth, called Pioneer Station and Voyager Station. The company, quite optimistically, projects an opening date of 2025 for Pioneer Station, with a capacity of 28 guests. The design for the larger Voyager Station , which they say will open in 2027, promises villas and suites, as well as a gym, restaurant and bar. Both provide the ultimate luxury: simulated gravity. Axiom Space , a space infrastructure company, is currently building the world’s first private space station; plans include Philippe Starck-designed accommodations for travelers to spend the night.

Joshua Bush, chief executive of travel agency Avenue Two Travel , has sold a handful of seats on upcoming Virgin Galactic flights to customers. The market for space travel (and the sky-high prices that come with it), he believes, will evolve much like civilian air travel did.

“In the beginning of the 20th century, only very affluent people could afford to fly,” he said. “Just as we have Spirit and Southwest Airlines today, there will be some sort of equivalent of that in space travel, too. Hopefully within my lifetime.”

52 Places for a Changed World

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What’s Up in Space and Astronomy

Keep track of things going on in our solar system and all around the universe..

Never miss an eclipse, a meteor shower, a rocket launch or any other 2024 event  that’s out of this world with  our space and astronomy calendar .

Euclid, a European Space Agency telescope launched into space last summer, finally showed off what it’s capable of with a batch of breathtaking images  and early science results.

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NASA scientists consider the health risks of space travel

Humans aren't built to live in space, and being there can pose serious health risks . For space administrations like NASA, a major goal is to identify these risks to hopefully help lessen them. 

That was a major theme during NASA’s Spaceflight for Everybody Virtual Symposium in November, a virtual symposium dedicated to discussing current knowledge and research efforts around the impact of spaceflight on human health. During a panel discussion titled “Human Health Risks in the Development of Future Programs” on Nov. 9, NASA scientists discussed these risks and how they are using existing knowledge to plan future missions. 

Each panelist emphasized that the health risks presented by space travel are complex and multifaceted and that all types of risks should be considered closely when planning future missions. 

Related:  Space travel can seriously change your brain  

Five types of risk

When discussing the risks presented by living in space and space travel, there are five main types, the scientists outlined in the presentation. 

Two types of risk, radiation and altered gravity, come simply from being in space, they said. Research has shown that both can have major negative effects on the body, and even the brain . Others, like isolation and confinement as well as being in a hostile closed environment, encompass risks posed by the living situations that are necessary in space, including risks to both mental and physical health. 

Then, there are the risks presented simply by being a long way from Earth. The farther humans get from the Earth, the riskier living in space becomes in almost every way. 

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Everything from fresh food to unexpired medication will be extremely difficult to make accessible with longer journeys farther away. On the International Space Station, astronauts aren’t too far from us, and we can routinely send supplies to the crews in orbit. But a mission to the moon or Mars would pose more problems. 

Communication delays would increase, and there would likely be communication blackouts, said Sharmi Watkins, assistant director for exploration in NASA’s Human Health and Performance Directorate who served as a panelist for this discussion.   She said it would also take longer to get back to Earth if there was a medical emergency. 

"We're not going to measure it in hours, but rather in days, in the case of the moon, and potentially weeks or months, when we start to think about Mars," said Watkins.

Steve Platts, the chief scientist in NASA’s human research program, broke down different levels of risk in space and discussed how NASA uses a "phased approach" when it comes to research on human health. In this approach, initial "phases" include research on the health effects of being in space has also been done in simulated conditions on Earth, from isolation experiments in Antarctica to radiation exposure at Brookhaven National Laboratory in Long Island, New York. Likewise, experiments on the space station will help us to prepare for risk on the moon and Mars — these later phases build on knowledge gained from simulations. 

"We do work on Earth, we do work on low earth orbit and then we'll be doing lunar missions, all to help us get to Mars," Platts said. 

— Deep-space radiation could cause have big impacts on the brain, mouse experiment shows

— Without gravity, the fluid around an astronaut's brain moves in weird ways

— Long space missions can change astronaut brain structure and function

Still, no matter how much we may prepare on Earth, every space mission comes with risk, so NASA has set health standards to minimize this risk for astronauts. 

NASA has over 800 health standards that they’ve developed based on current research. These standards describe everything from how much space astronauts should have in a spacecraft to how much muscle and bone loss an astronaut can experience without being seriously harmed. These standards also include levels of physical fitness and health the astronauts need to meet before going into space. All of NASA’s health standards for astronauts are available online . 

A mission can impact astronauts’ health, but it also works the other way — health troubles with astronauts could impact a mission if they aren’t able to perform mission tasks adequately, said Mary Van Baalen, acting director of human system risk management at NASA and the panel’s moderator. She emphasized the complex interplay between these two types of impacts, both of which NASA scientists must keep in mind when planning missions. 

"Space travel is an inherently risky endeavor," she said. "And the nature of human risk is complex."

You can watch the full recording of the panel discussion and other talks from the symposium here . 

Follow us on Twitter @Spacedotcom or Facebook.

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].

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].

Rebecca Sohn is a freelance science writer. She writes about a variety of science, health and environmental topics, and is particularly interested in how science impacts people's lives. She has been an intern at CalMatters and STAT, as well as a science fellow at Mashable. Rebecca, a native of the Boston area, studied English literature and minored in music at Skidmore College in Upstate New York and later studied science journalism at New York University. 

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The Benefits and Drawbacks of Space Tourism – A 2021 Guide

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“Space travel is returning to where it started: with maverick pioneers dreaming of journeys to orbit and beyond, some carrying out rocket experiments in their own backyards. The rise of citizen astronauts has already begun.” Arthur C Clarke Forward to SpaceShipOne: An Illustrated History 2008

Since private individuals first started visiting the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001 via the Space Adventures company, the dream of being able to travel into space for the masses is slowly becoming closer to reality.

So far seven space tourists have gone into orbit on Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a week-long stay on the ISS 400km above the Earth and for the future that number will expand. During 2021 both Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos of Blue Origin flew into sub-orbit “near-space”, with Branson reaching over 50 miles altitude in the “Unity” SpaceShipTwo vehicle and Bezos achieving over 62 miles height in the New Shepard capsule.

In the USA, 50 miles is the set definition of where “space” begins, whilst internationally it is considered to be at the 62 mile (100km) “Karman Line” height Others will be following as new orbital spacecraft come on-stream and the ticket price is gradually lowered.

In September 2021, Space X successfully flew the three-day “Inspiration 4” private orbital mission into Earth orbit. Paid for by the lead private astronaut Jared Isaacman, this $200m fund-raising and research flight sent four private astronauts, or “space participants” as some like to be called, into a 366 mile (590km) high orbit – this was well above the 250 mile (400km) orbiting height of the ISS.

Also, in late 2021 Blue Origin flew the actor William Shatner – “Captain Kirk” in the original Star Trek series – to sub-orbit space onboard the New Shepard rocket. This was followed by the “private astronaut” visit of Russian actress Yulia Peresild to the ISS on a Soyuz flight for movie filming –  for the future, US actor Tom Cruise has been mentioned as another possible visitor to the ISS for filming purposes.

The astronauts spent their time enjoying zero-g, fully experiencing the thrill of being in space and taking in the extraordinary views of the Earth through a glass-domed “cupola” positioned at the tip of their cone-shaped Crew Dragon spacecraft “Resilience”. One crew member, Hayley Arcenaux, at 29 yrs. old became the youngest US astronaut to go into space. The Crew Dragon spacecraft flew entirely automatically, although the crew and ground-control could have intervened if the flight was not proceeding nominally.

As the first purely private orbital spaceflight, this history-making mission has paved the way for future non-government-sponsored astronauts to go into space – it showed that normal “people in the street” can train for a few weeks, launch, and experience spaceflight safely. Similar to the way that the 1920-30s gradually saw the introduction of safer and more reliable airliner travel for ordinary citizens, so the coming decades will see an accelerating expansion of regular orbital “space tourism” with no essential requirement for outstanding fitness or advanced astronaut skills for the participants.

In the near future, thousands more private astronauts should be going into sub-orbital space too, traveling to 80-100km altitudes, via Virgin Galactic’s SpaceShipTwo spaceplanes and Blue Origin’s New Shepard rockets.

But what are the benefits and drawbacks of space tourism – is space tourism a good idea?

Significance of Space Tourism

A key benefit of space tourism is that it offers a new leisure industry service by meeting the pent-up demand of space travel for individuals. It allows aspiring private astronauts access to an “ultimate trip” beyond the Earth’s atmosphere – its economic and social consequences are comparable to those resulting from the development of civil jet airliners like the Boeing 747 which opened up mass and affordable international travel from the late 1960s.

Over sixty years of continuous human spaceflight, out of 7.3 billion people on the planet just over 600 have been into space. And apart from the seven Space Adventure “space participants”, almost all of these astronauts have been funded by governments as part of ongoing space program projects.

The 2002 book “Spaceflight Revolution” by David Ashford of Bristol Spaceplanes pointed out that the potential demand for human spaceflight is very large. He noted that market research in Japan and Canada in the late 1990s suggested that at that time approximately 7.5% of the industrialized population of the world apparently wanted to experience a spaceflight at least once in their lifetime. A resulting market demand estimate of at least one million space passengers flying per year could be concluded from those studies – this was assuming of course that this spaceflight could be affordable and was relatively safe.

The emerging new space vehicles , the Space-X Crew Dragon and the Boeing CST-100 Starliner for orbital access and the Virgin Galactic’s (VG) SpaceShipTwo (SS2) and Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft for suborbital flights, will soon provide a long-anticipated breakthrough for aspiring astronaut explorers, scientists, and private “space participants”.

Interested in learning to fly a microlight? Check out this article, here .

Why is Space Tourism Important?

Why do so many people want to travel into space and where does that desire come from? Are there advantages and disadvantages of space research?

Many believe that space travel is ingrained into the human psyche, as part of a natural desire to explore and find out more about our surroundings in the wider Cosmos.

The private astronaut Anousheh Ansari, who flew to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-9 via the Space Adventures company in 2006, describes in her book “My Dream of Stars” how as a child she would sleep out under the stars on family camping trips in Iran – from that point she became gripped by the fascination, wonder and deep desire of traveling into the Cosmos. 

The desire for the “overview effect” of seeing the beauty and significance of the planet from space drives many aspiring astronauts. Frank White coined this phrase in the 1980’s  – it applies to the many astronauts who have noted this emotion, which for some is a transformative experience….Beth Moses, suborbital astronaut and  Chief Astronaut Instructor at Virgin Galactic describes this, saying:“ The view is the star of the show”.

Whatever the individual reasons for a personal spaceflight experience, many believe that the benefits of space tourism will be strong – there will be a significant lowering of the cost of access to space, enabling a more rapid and viable human space exploration process and possible eventual colonization of parts of the Moon , Mars and the Solar System, with significant benefits to the world’s economy, as well as to science research and technological progress.

How Much Is a Ticket To Space?

In terms of future prices, the emerging sub-orbital flights available with Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin will cost about £200-300,000 a ticket. This is obviously a low figure when compared to the high costs of spaceflight offered by the early days of the space program approach that government space agencies have established.

Private orbital spaceflights will be much more expensive, but they are reducing over time. These will soon be available in future years via companies like Axiom and Space Adventures on the new 4-7 seat Space-X Crew Dragon, or 4-seat Boeing CST-100 Starliner orbital spacecraft, as well as via the current Russian 3-seat Soyuz capsules.

Looking at space tourism facts and costs, the early orbital ticket prices in the 2000s were approximately £15m per 10-day mission, expanding to £25m for later flights. These flights included trips via Soyuz for Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Anousheh Ansari, Charles Simonyi who flew twice, plus Guy Laliberte. In 2008, UK-born Richard Garriott de Cayeux, son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, flew to the ISS on Soyuz TMA-12.

With the new Space X and Boeing spacecraft, access to orbital space is likely to be relatively cheaper than via Soyuz which is currently costing NASA about £70m per flight, though a price competition should evolve over time.

Bigelow Aerospace has booked four space participant slots on the Crew Dragon for about £40m each. Boeing’s Starliner prices are expected to be more costly though, perhaps running at £55m per seat. More recently, the US company Axiom Space signed a contract with Space X to fly three fare-paying private astronauts, plus a pilot astronaut, on a mission to the ISS as early as 2021. 

Space Adventures have suggested EVA possibilities for participants and lunar flights have been considered.

NASA are now more enthusiastic over “commercial astronaut” visitors using the ISS, with $35,000 a day accommodation prices being quoted, excluding flight access costs. Once the Crew Dragon and Starliner spacecraft provide a regular service with potentially seven crew per flight, so the ISS can be staffed by additional research crew and visitors, with additional accommodation pods being installed – the science research output will of course be boosted via easier crew access.

For the longer term, private human access to orbit and beyond should become even more affordable. An unknown for the late 2020s onwards is the Space-X “Starship” project – this is the 5,000 tonne two-stage reusable vehicle that Elon Musk expects may slash orbital access and deep-space flight prices. An early free-return lunar flight of the “Starship” is being proposed for Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, together with his intended crew of 6-8 “artists”. 

Clearly, private spaceflight is going to reduce overall costs to the benefit of both space agencies and tourism companies.

Flight Safety

In terms of the benefits and drawbacks of space tourism and the worry that some space vehicles will be lost during the initial period of private spaceflight, many would consider this in the same terms as early flying and airline development which saw some losses of civil aircraft before technology enhancements provided today’s flight reliability and good airline safety records.

Many will recall the sad loss of NASA’s space shuttle Challenger in 1986 when astronaut-teacher Christa McAuliffe together with her six other crew members was killed during the vehicle explosion shortly after launch.

Richard Branson, here seen with designer Burt Rutan in 2014, has been determined to minimise the potential dangers of flights on the emerging SpaceShipThree spaceplane, taking on-board the lessons of early flight testing. (Image Steve Jurvetson).

In Oct. 2014 the Virgin Galactic sub-orbital VSS Enterprise spacecraft broke-up during a drop test and rocket burn and one of the two crew members died. SS2 design modifications were subsequently made and the company is determined to maximise passenger safety and enjoyment.

Blue Origin also lost a sub-orbital vehicle in April 2015 during an uncrewed test flight.

Safety is clearly a key consideration to the emerging tourist spaceflight companies and it can be expected that a measured step-by-step approach to flight testing will minimize these dangers and potential losses during the early years of private spaceflight.

Scientist-Astronaut Suborbital Flights

Why is space tourism important?

Science will benefit from space tourism and the reduced cost of access to space. For example, NASA recently announced the formation of its new Sub-orbital Crew Office (“Sub-C”), with Scott Colloredo as its Head. This new approach should boost access to space for an enlarged group of both space-agency and private scientist astronauts.

The new grouping will seek agreements with VG and Blue Origin for both astronaut training and microgravity science experiment flights – both companies have flown automated NASA experiments on test flights to date and have designed their cabin interiors to flexibly allow for future experiment racks, instead of passenger couches.

Aspiring private or government scientist flight participants who are seeking relatively low-cost 3-5 minute microgravity periods will consider these two approaches as very appealing, being well ahead of the 20 second periods of microgravity offered by parabola flights in aircraft. (Image: ESA/ Novespace)

The scientific benefits of future private access to the orbiting ISS space station’s research facilities, plus one day the Moon and Mars bases, will be strong. The significance of space tourism is that it should accelerate the development of space exploration generally.

Disadvantages of Space Exploration

A possibility is that the potential CO2 output from regular launch vehicles for enhanced space tourism may be a drawback to address. Carbon offset policies will be the likely solution to this issue, combined with the possible use of rocket bio-fuels and eventually in-situ resources from asteroids, the Moon, and Mars.

Considering the benefits and drawbacks of space tourism, it appears that an increase in Earth orbit activity will have some limited negative impact on “space traffic” and increase to some extent the dangers of orbital debris collisions.

However, the increase in space “debris” from orbital access for space tourism can be countered by mitigation and rocket stage recovery – Space X is seeking to recover much of their Falcon and Starship launchers and Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin are fully reusable systems, plus protocols on launch activity for the future will require more satellite and spacecraft recovery and de-orbiting measures.

Is Space Tourism a Good Idea?

Point to point high-speed rocket travel is a future benefit that will occur from sub-orbital space tourism – already Virgin Galactic is proposing a “SpaceShipThree” that will fly at high-speed/high altitudes for rapid intercontinental access across the globe, heralding a leap forward in rapid mass travel across the planet.

Disturbance from sonic booms resulting from space tourism will need to be limited for regular flight operations, as occurs for supersonic flights by civil and military aircraft over land.

If the early possible “teething” issues of flight safety, environmental, and traffic matters can be addressed and mitigated, the future of space tourism for a post-Covid world looks very promising. Economic benefits via reduced costs for space launchers, plus an acceleration of space technology development will be a very positive outcome from this tourism sector.

Images Jeff Foust, Robert Sullivan, Steve Jurvetson, David Creative Commons

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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

What Is the Impact of Space Tourism?

Since Jeff Bezos and Sir Richard Branson blasted into space in July 2021, space tourism has become an increasingly popular topic. However, while many people are excited about the prospect, others are worried about the potential consequences of commercial space travel.

This article will discuss space tourism and its impact on the economy, science, technology, and the planet.

What Is Space Tourism?

It will bring us closer to space, scientific research and technological advancements, the employment rate, new opportunities for space exploration, it’s bad for the environment, pollution in space, space tourism requires a lot of funding, is space tourism worth it.

In July 2021, Sir Richard Branson traveled into space in one of Virgin Galactic’s aircraft, and one week later, Jeff Bezos followed in his footsteps with Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft. These two events marked an important milestone in space tourism and the beginning of the new-generation space race.

But what exactly is space tourism ? Well, it’s precisely what one might assume – traveling to space as a tourist. Professional astronauts go to space to undertake scientific research or conduct experiments. For example, they study how the human body behaves in space, test how technology can and can’t aid astronauts, and try to find places with off-Earth resources.

Space tourism wasn’t developed for any of those reasons. Instead, it’s supposed to be for recreational and leisure purposes. In other words, commercial space travel is just for fun.

Even though the term “space tourism” only recently captured the public’s attention, it has been around for some time. The world’s first space tourist was Dennis Tito, who funded his trip into space in 2001. Since then, many privately owned aerospace companies, like Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX, have shifted their focus to space tourism.

Since the beginning of space travel and exploration, only around 600 people have been to space. However, with the rise of space tourism, it’s believed that flying to space will become much more common. In fact, a study conducted by Northern Sky Research says there will be over 57,500 people who will fly to space in the next ten years or so.

Not to mention that tickets for Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic suborbital flights are already on sale. There have also been over 700 tickets sold for Virgin Galactic’s suborbital trip to space.

Therefore, there’s no point in arguing against commercial space travel industry growth in the near future. However, this brings us to the question of what impacts space tourism will have on Earth. As with any other large-scale venture, space tourism is predicted to have both positive and negative effects on the planet.

Positive Impacts of Space Tourism

Space tourism represents a massive step forward from regular space exploration, not to mention tourism. While there are many types of tourism, the most popular is adventure tourism. Therefore, we can view space tourism as an advanced combination of space travel and adventure tourism.

Space tourism will undoubtedly change how we view our planet in numerous ways. For many people around the world, space tourism opens up new doors. So let’s take a closer look at how space tourism will positively affect our planet.

Space tourism is an opportunity for many people to travel around the Earth and experience the thrill of going to space. Until recently, outer space travel was only available for the best astronauts, pilots, and space engineers worldwide. The fact that only around 600 people have been to space since humans started exploring outer space is confirmation of this. Space tourism brings space travel and exploration to ordinary people … least ordinary people with a lot of money.

Despite the ridiculously high prices of space travel (one ticket for a 90-minute suborbital trip with Virgin Galactic currently costs $450,000), it’s believed space tourism will become much more affordable in the future. If we were to look at the beginnings of air travel, only the wealthy were able to afford plane tickets. Today, you can fly to another country for under $100. As space tourism becomes more mainstream in the future, the prices are likely to go down.

Traveling to space more frequently will give people a new perspective of our planet. Do you know that feeling when you’re on a plane, looking down and thinking how small the world actually is? Imagine the same experience from a spaceship. This is more commonly known as the overview effect , a feeling astronauts describe as unforgettable and one-of-a-kind.

Space tourism is about pushing the boundaries, exploring new places, and discovering the vastness of space. One of the most important effects of space tourism will be more scientific research and technological advancements. We’re already seeing major technological inventions developed by privately owned aerospace companies like Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic. The competition between these three companies and other contenders will encourage innovation in various fields of space science.

With the development of space tourism, space engineers are likely to encounter challenges and obstacles along the way. However, this will inspire them to develop new technology and do more research designed primarily for space travel and tourism, leading to new discoveries.

Space tourism will boost the world’s economy and provide new opportunities to engineers, scientists, technology experts, and anyone passionate about space travel.

If we look at the tourism industry alone, we will see that it creates 284 million jobs worldwide. Moreover, the tourism industry was worth almost $9 trillion in 2019, accounting for 10% of the global gross domestic product.

Regarding the space tourism market, its estimated worth is $175.3 Million in the U.S. alone. According to the same source, experts believe it could grow to $1.7 billion in the next five years. The Northern Sky Research study mentioned above predicts growth of $20.3 billion by 2031. Up to 66% of the overall revenue opportunity will be made by orbital travel, a field currently dominated by Elon Musk’s SpaceX company.

As the space tourism industry grows, there will be more job openings in various sectors.

Space tourism presents new opportunities for the entire space exploration industry. It prompts space engineers and scientists to ask themselves, “What’s next?” Space tourism’s future is uncertain, but this market’s rapid development suggests positive outcomes.

We could be looking at longer orbital space travel, landing on the Moon, and even space hotels. In fact, some space hotels are already being developed, like the Voyager Station, which should be open to visitors in 2027. If everything goes according to plan, the Voyager Station will become the first commercial space hotel.

Negative Impacts of Space Tourism

Many experts argue that space tourism has more cons than pros. While some might say that space tourism is the next big adventure, others claim it’s the next big disaster. So let’s look at some of space tourism’s most substantial negative impacts.

One of space tourism’s biggest concerns is its environmental effects. Rockets require a lot of fuel to be launched into space while overcoming Earth’s gravity field. The fuel they use generates soot, a black powdery substance with a heavy concentration of carbon.

One suborbital space tourism flight that lasts one hour and a half creates the same amount of soot and pollution as a trans-Atlantic flight that lasts 10 hours. More rocket ships will be launched into space with increasing frequency, owing to the unquestionable growth of the space tourism industry. This will undoubtedly contribute to climate change and harm the Earth’s atmosphere.

Rockets are so bad for the environment because they pollute the Earth’s stratosphere, which is 7.5 miles to 34 miles above the Earth’s surface. Once the black soot is deposited in the stratosphere, it won’t be dissipated by rain or blown away by winds. Instead, the rocket soot will remain in the stratosphere for years until it gets absorbed by sunlight, resulting in excessive warmth and further damage to the ozone layer.

Another issue is that there isn’t enough research on how rocket emissions affect the stratosphere. That’s because it’s typically the lower layer of the atmosphere that’s polluted by air travel. This leaves scientists with more questions about the impact of space tourism on the Earth’s environment.

However, some argue that space tourism won’t be as detrimental to the Earth’s atmosphere as many think. For example, the National Space Society published an article claiming that space tourism will have a minor impact on climate change, as opposed to passenger flights that occur daily.

According to the same article, the three leading aerospace companies will try to incorporate sustainable technology and carbon-neutral fuel. For example, Blue Origin’s New Shepard only uses water as exhaust, while SpaceX spacecraft will use methane fuel and solar power.

Not only will pollution be increased on Earth, but in space as well. This issue is otherwise known as orbital debris or “space junk.” NASA claims that over 27,000 pieces of orbital debris are now circling the planet. Some larger pieces are tracked by sensors developed by the Space Surveillance Network, but others are too small to be tracked. The majority of these pieces are the same size as a softball.

If a part of a spacecraft breaks down or falls off, it’s at risk of floating towards the Earth’s orbit. While pieces of space junk may not threaten life on Earth, they can collide with spacecraft and cause serious issues. Space junk travels at an incredibly high speed of up to 15,700 miles an hour. Compared to an average rocket’s speed in low orbit, 17,000 miles an hour , this is a cause for concern. If it flies into a spacecraft or a satellite, it will result in significant damage.

It might even hit a passenger spacecraft and put people’s lives at risk.

A lot of resources and funding are required to send one craft into space. Statistics from previous trips to space reveal that there wasn’t one trip that didn’t cost at least $20 million. Privately owned aerospace companies spend even more money for a single rocket launch. For instance, when Axiom Space sent the Crew Dragon Endeavor to the International Space Station in April 2022, it cost them $55 million.

When Jeff Bezos set off to space on the New Shepard in July 2021, he only experienced a few minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth. He paid a whopping $5.5 billion for this short adventure.

Given that only six people can board the Blue Origin spacecraft, and the journey will only last a few minutes, many people wonder whether space tourism is worth it. A suborbital trip with Virgin Galactic should last slightly longer – about an hour and a half. However, paying $450,000 for that time is still out of the question for many people.

Concerned humanitarians argue that this money could be used for worthier causes. World hunger, poverty, global warming, deforestation, the COVID-19 pandemic, and the need for renewable energy are some issues at the top of the list.

Traveling to space has been a dream for many people, and space tourism will make this dream a reality. The bad news is that it will come with dire consequences. Many researchers and scientists argue that space tourism will harm the environment and contribute to pollution in outer space.

Space tourism advocates say it is the next logical step toward space exploration and leads to various discoveries and technological advances.

There’s definitely more work to be done to evaluate the future risks of space tourism. However, what we can conclude so far is that the commercial space travel industry will definitely grow in the near future.

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OPINION article

Can space tourism boost sustainable behavior.

• Department of Psychological Sciences, Health and Territory, University of Chieti, Chieti, Italy

Introduction

As the golden age of space tourism is becoming a reality, many are wondering about the usefulness of sending people to space for a few minutes. Given the high cost of a spaceflight, pollution-related problems, and the rigid training that private astronauts undergo, it is fundamental to understand and predict whether people can derive benefits from this type of tourism also from a psychological and behavioral point of view. Here we ask whether participating in a spaceflight may shape human behavior in terms of sustainable behavior (e.g., prosocial skills). The question may be perceived as a non-sense. In fact, spatial industries and rockets are far from being an example of sustainability. However, the definition of sustainable behavior appears to offer a different perspective that may add to the psychological value of space tourism per sé at least from a theoretical point of view.

Sustainable Behavior and Positive Emotions

Sustainable behavior can be defined as a series of voluntary actions that result in benefits for the natural environment and for the whole humanity. Prosocial behaviors are an instance of sustainable actions when referring to helping people and doing something for the conservation of their natural environment (e.g., Eisenberg, 1982 ). Sustainable behaviors are based on the assumption that it is important to understand the complexity of the natural environment and to become aware of the consequences resulting from our behaviors as they impact over Earth's integrity.

One of the main characteristics of sustainable behavior is that sustainability and positive emotions are linked conceptually and empirically. In fact, positive emotions are thought to foster subsequent helping behavior and vice versa. For example, there are studies showing that inducing the idea of love by asking to retrieve memory of a love episode, had a significant positive effect on compliance to a request by a passerby who was asked for help (e.g., Lamy et al., 2008 ). When measured via self-reports of intent to help or experimental records of helping behaviors, individuals that engage in sustainable actions frequently report greater level of satisfaction, self-efficacy and, generally speaking, psychological well-being (e.g., Fredrickson and Joiner, 2018 ).

As theorized by Barbara Fredrickson and her colleagues (e.g., Fredrickson and Joiner, 2018 ), the main idea is that positive emotions are associated with greater feelings of self–other overlap. That is, by broadening cognition, positive emotions produce more inclusive social categorization and subsequently produce feelings of oneness, helping behavior toward people and their natural environment.

In this regard, one can wonder whether space tourism may offer a contribution.

For instance, Jeff Bezos' first words after returning to Earth “ I felt unbelievably good …this is the only good planet in the solar system, and we have to take care of it. When you go to space and see how fragile it is you want to take care of it even mor e” seem to testify how positive emotions fuel people's desire to experience conditions of helping behavior and engaging in conservation practices.

However, one can argue that the association between positive emotions and sustainable behavior is not always straightforward and this may be particularly true when referring to an extreme environment such as space. In fact, a space mission is characterized by many physical and psychological stressors such as microgravity, isolation, confinement, sensory and sleep deprivation (e.g., Messerotti Benvenuti et al., 2011 , 2013 ; Spironelli and Angrilli, 2011 ) that may differentially impact on affective responses and on the subsequent engagement in sustainable actions.

Moreover, a study by Ballantyne et al. (2008) found that a visit to a botanic garden, thought to foster positive emotions (e.g., enjoying being in a nature scene, admiring a garden's scenery with family, etc.) coupled with the importance of preserving plants, did not generate a higher level of interest in and commitment to conservation practices compared with other types of visits (e.g., museum, zoo, etc.). This finding indicates that perceiving vulnerability does not necessarily lead to the subsequent adoption of sustainable behaviors.

The rationale being that sustainable actions do not simply rely on the sole exposure to a certain environment, rather it requires the interaction of multiple processes, such as decision making, emotion, motivation, attention, etc. (to cite only few) that can lead individuals to act in different ways. The same scenario, thus, may occur during a space mission: positive emotions may be associated to space tourism but not necessarily in a way that fosters behavioral changes.

The “Perception of the Earth” Effect

One aspect that may strengthen the link between space tourism and sustainable behavior is the focus on Earth's perception as thought to be strictly connected with the occurrence of positive emotions and with subsequent sustainable behaviors (e.g., Suedfeld et al., 2010 ).

Basically, the global vision of the Earth prompts the occurrence of positive emotions. This phenomenon looks like a mood induction procedure where participants are exposed to a series of positively laden pictures or to a funny movie with the aim of increasing their mood on the positive side. The rationale being that when measuring the degree to which people see the “big picture” or focus on smaller details and its relationship with positive emotions, it was found that compared with those in negative or neutral states, people who experience positive emotions tend to focus on global processing (e.g., Fredrickson and Branigan, 2005 ).

This finding may indirectly indicate that perceiving the Earth may alone trigger positive emotions or, to say it better, that global visual processing and the generation of positive emotions are somehow linked. For example, in his diary, cosmonaut Lebedev wrote that the vision of Earth was restful and positive to him and helped him to cope with his 211-day Salyut 7 mission (e.g., Kanas and Manzey, 2008 ). In addition, the type and the number of Earth pictures taken daily by astronauts during their mission on the International Space Station communicate the need of acting for conservation of Earth's beauty.

By studying reports of retired astronauts, researchers concluded that being in space is indeed reported as a massive experience with a long-lasting impact on their psychological well-being (e.g., Kanas and Manzey, 2008 ). In particular, their experience has been described with the following categories: perception of the Earth, perception of Space, new possibilities, appreciating life, personal strength, changes in daily life, relating to others, spiritual change (these categories were also adopted by the so-called Positive Effects of Being in Space or PEBS which assesses the positive attitude toward space). In another study positive changes were measured and compared between a sample of 20 retired male Mir and International Space Station cosmonauts and two groups on Earth who had experienced stressful events (e.g., Suedfeld et al., 2010 ). Cosmonauts' scores resulted particularly high in the field of realization of new possibilities and personal strength. Moreover, those who had spent more than a year in space and those who had flown to both Mir and the ISS were more likely to report a positive change in their appreciation of the others and in their willingness to act to preserve our planet. Critical here are gender differences. In fact, the “tend-and-befriend” strategy (e.g., Taylor et al., 2000 ) mostly used by female compared with male astronauts during space mission has been shown to be oriented toward promoting prosocial behavior to a greater extent (e.g., team cohesion and team care). Indeed, while high competitiveness and poor sharing of personal concerns usually characterize all-male expedition teams, women tend to worry about the crewmates well-being and the decrease in crew cohesion more (e.g., Kanas and Manzey, 2008 ).

It is important to notice that the above-mentioned data come from studies where professional astronauts were involved. Indeed, there are differences among professional astronauts and private astronauts, for instance, in terms of long duration training, motivation, skills, education etc. Consequently, the relationship between Earth perception, positive emotions and sustainable behavior should be taken with caution when referring to private space tourism. Due to the lack of data, we can only assume that the association between Earth perception and positive emotions may be similar to the one reported by professional astronauts (e.g., Kanas and Manzey, 2008 ; Alfano et al., 2018 ), for example, in terms of a more positive view of themselves and the others and of a better sense of the unity of humankind (e.g., Kanas and Manzey, 2008 ). Reports from private astronauts seem to support our assumption, but we need future studies to help unraveling this interaction better.

In closing, we emphasize that the findings reported here coming from behavioral studies on Earth and during space missions with professional astronauts seems to support the idea that space tourism too can generate positive emotions and, in turns, facilitate sustainable and approach behaviors. Of course, motivating people to engage in helping behaviors (e.g., interpersonal trust, providing social support, conservation practices) cannot rely on the sole perception of Earth's fragility. However, space tourism may represent a challenging and interesting new avenue for future research in this domain. Nevertheless, we hope that space tourism can offer the benefits of leading to more sustainable actions, capable of responding to the needs of most rather than those of few. In this way, space tourism may offer unexpected opportunities in terms of action for conservation strategies and aid programs also from a psychological point of view.

Author Contributions

NM developed the concept of the manuscript and the drafting.

This study was funded by the Department of Psychological Sciences, Health and Territory, University of Chieti.

Conflict of Interest

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Publisher's Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Keywords: space science, sustainable behavior, positive emotions, environment, emotion

Citation: Mammarella N (2021) Can Space Tourism Boost Sustainable Behavior? Front. Psychol. 12:771936. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.771936

Received: 15 September 2021; Accepted: 29 October 2021; Published: 19 November 2021.

Reviewed by:

Copyright © 2021 Mammarella. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY) . The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

*Correspondence: Nicola Mammarella, n.mammarella@unich.it orcid.org/0000-0003-1240-702X

Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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The Future of Space Tourism

Where we are now.

The idea of Space Tourism feels like something out of a futuristic sci-fi film but the reality is that it’s been around for almost 20 years. Some may recall American businessman, Dennis Tito, becoming the first civilian tourist to visit the International Space Station in 2001. Tito’s trip to space cost him a colossal 20 million dollars, meaning at that price, going into space would remain a dream only to be experienced through films and stories for most of us.

The concept of space tourism evokes a sense of awe and wonder, igniting excitement and fascination within us. This burgeoning industry has gained momentum in recent years, and for valid reasons. For generations, the idea of journeying beyond the confines of Earth’s atmosphere into the boundless expanse of space has captivated the human imagination. With recent technological progress, this aspiration is no longer limited to astronauts and scientists alone, and the prospect of it is enough to entice anyone.

A 20 million dollar space holiday?

Space tourism may seem like a luxury only afforded by the super-rich, but it’s not just about money. It’s an opportunity for anyone to experience something truly unique, awe-inspiring and life-changing. The appeal of space tourism is undeniable, a chance to see the world from a completely different perspective, to feel weightlessness and witness the beauty of our planet from a distance.

According to recent surveys, interest in space tourism is not limited to the wealthy, with 38% of luxury travellers expressing interest in taking a space flight for recreational purposes. Among luxury travellers aged 16-34, that figure rises to an astounding 58%.

The mere thought of space tourism can evoke a sense of wonder and excitement. For many, it’s a chance to realise childhood dreams and experience something that was once unimaginable. It’s a chance to leave behind the mundane and experience the extraordinary. The possibilities of space tourism are endless, from suborbital flights to orbital flights, to staying in space hotels and even commercial space stations.

In this article, we will delve into the world of space tourism, exploring its history, current state, key players and what the future may hold. We will discuss the benefits and challenges of space tourism, its impact on society and the economy, and the ethical and environmental concerns that come with it. So, buckle up and prepare for lift-off as we embark on a journey to the final frontier.

The Space Tourism Market

The government end-user segment is also expected to grow at a CAGR of 37% from 2022 to 2030. In the United States, North America led the overall market in 2022, with a market share of 38.6%. The region has a well-established infrastructure that has allowed for the speedier implementation of modern technologies, and the presence of an extensive research and development base.

There are two types of space tourism: sub-orbital and orbital.

Suborbital Spaceflight

The sub-orbital segment dominated the market in 2022, accounting for 49.3% of the overall market share and aims to reach an altitude of over 300,000 feet, reaching the Karman line, which is the benchmark to define where outer space begins. Currently there are two major players competing in this field, Virgin Galactic, part of Richard Branson’s empire and Blue Origin, run by Amazon’s billionaire founder Jeff Bezos. Both of the companies’ systems are rocket-powered and capable of carrying up to six passengers on a flight. Virgin has completed four successful flights however recently filed for bankruptcy after failing to find funding, Blue origin however has now flown 32 passengers on the New Sheppard alongside a number of uncrewed flights carrying payloads onboard.

Orbital Spaceflight

Unlike suborbital spaceflight which gives passengers a few minutes in space at an altitude of 300,000 feet, orbital spaceflight goes much further than this. Passengers are likely to spend between a few days in space up to over a week at an altitude of over 1.3 million feet. The final quarter of 2021 is likely to be a huge for tourists in orbital spaceflight, with two major companies Space Adventures and Axiom Space announcing up to nine seats to orbit available for purchase by either individuals or organizations.

The sub-orbital segment dominated the market in 2022, accounting for 49.3% of the overall market share. The orbital segment, on the other hand, is expected to witness the fastest growth of 41.0% throughout the forecast period. The demand for space tourism is expected to continue to grow in the coming years, as the cost of space travel decreases and more people become interested in the experience.

Current Space Tourism Competitors and Missions

Whilst still relatively new the space tourism industry already has several key players:

• Blue Origin
• Space Adventure
• Zero 2 Infinity
• Space Perspective

These companies are working to develop new technologies and services that will make space travel more accessible and affordable for a broader market.

More recently NASA  funded three companies to develop commercial space stations, totaling $415M. Blue Origin received $130 million, Nanoracks received $160 million, and Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation received $125.6 million. These developments help support growing demand for space tourism, providing the necessary infrastructure to support it.

Where is Space Tourism Booming?

North America is leading the way in the space tourism market, with a well-established infrastructure and an extensive research and development base. Europe, although behind America in the market, is also showing potential in the space tourism industry, with the U.K. government pledging £2 million to fund horizontal space launches from the country. The U.K. has emerged as a region leader for spaceports, which could then transition into more opportunities for space tourism in Europe. However, the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine have been detrimental to building the European space tourism market, with space activities and funding being diverted elsewhere. To keep up with the US, Europe needs to scale launch capabilities

Why is Space Tourism expected to be so popular?

Going to space provides an opportunity to witness the beauty of the Earth from a completely different perspective. It allows one to see the planet as a whole, and to appreciate the fragile and interconnected nature of all life on Earth. The experience of weightlessness and the sensation of floating in space is also something that very few people have ever experienced, which makes it an incredible and unforgettable experience.

Choosing to go to space over an expensive holiday on Earth is a personal decision, but it offers a once-in-a-lifetime experience that cannot be replicated elsewhere. It provides an opportunity to break free from the monotony of everyday life and to embark on a truly unique adventure that can inspire personal growth and self-discovery. Furthermore, it offers an opportunity to contribute to the advancement of space exploration, science, and technology, which has the potential to benefit all of humanity in the long run.

But space tourism is not without its challenges…

While space tourism offers exciting opportunities, there are also some potential drawbacks and negative effects to consider.

Environmental Impact: Space tourism can have a negative impact on the environment. Launching spacecraft and rockets require a lot of energy and can produce significant amounts of air and noise pollution. These emissions can contribute to climate change and harm the atmosphere.

Safety Concerns: Space travel is still a dangerous endeavor, and accidents can happen. Despite safety protocols, there is always the risk of something going wrong, and the consequences of a mishap could be catastrophic.

Cost: At present, space tourism is an expensive venture that is accessible only to the wealthy. As a result, many people will not be able to experience space travel, which can create feelings of inequality and elitism.

Space Debris: Every launch of a spacecraft generates debris that can stay in orbit for many years, and as the number of space launches increases, the amount of debris grows. This debris can cause problems for other spacecraft, and even small debris can cause damage.

Resource Depletion: Space travel requires a vast amount of resources, including energy, fuel, and materials. The depletion of these resources could have long-term consequences and could negatively impact the environment and the availability of resources for future generations.

Legal Issues: The legal framework for space tourism is still evolving, and it is unclear who will be held responsible if something goes wrong. There are also concerns about the impact of space tourism on international space laws and treaties.

The industry must ensure safety and sustainability, avoiding the mistakes of the past and building a foundation for the future. Including continuing to invest in research and development and ensuring that space travel becomes more accessible and affordable for all.

So What’s Next?

Space hotels.

Plans involving orbital spaceflight will require tourists to stay at the International Space Station, the only habitable structure in space at the moment but many companies are looking beyond this. Space hotels are likely to be the next venture for many to support the space tourism sector. One company, Orion Span , has developed plans for the first-ever “affordable” luxury space hotel called ‘Aurora station’. Orion Span is looking to launch in 2021 and start welcoming guests in 2022. This doesn’t mean the opportunity will be available to many of us with the expected cost of a 12-day stay on the ‘Aurora station’ coming to $9.5 million, quite literally a price that’s out of this world. Still, that’s a lot less than orbital tourists have paid in the past, as all of the seven private citizens that took trips to ISS each payed an estimated $20 million to $40 million per trip.

One small step for hotels … one giant leap for hotel life. Not only are space companies looking to venture into space hotels but giant hotel booking company Hotels.com. Launching the first online travel site, ‘offering future hotel bookings in space and reward earthlings with the ultimate out of this world travel escape’. Featuring space robes and slippers, intergalactic room service, solar lobbies, holographic wake-up calls, meteor mini bar, zero gravity space deck, pool and bar, which have all been imagined through beautiful renders of a space hotel on their galactic booking website.

Whilst space hotels like this may be a long way off until then there’s plenty of options to have an out of this world experience in one of these space themed hotels. Here’s our top five:

Top 5 Space Theme Hotels on Earth

The website says : Experience the feeling of flying among the stars as you enjoy the comfort of your Serenity Latex Mattress, specially designed for your spaceship bed. The triangular whirlpool bath glows softly under the stars from a multitude of different galaxies as you enjoy watching movies on your Plasma Screen Television. The DVD provided ensures you can watch all the Star Wars movies you’re able to while staying with us.

The steam shower is equipped with the “Raindancer Shower” which is almost as good as having a masseuse in the room with you. Your wet bar comes complete with a microwave, refrigerator and coffeemaker so you will not have to leave your spaceship until you are done exploring the universe and are ready to return to Earth! Your mission, should you decide to accept it, is to enjoy your outer space experience and boldly go where no others have gone before.

Outer space room with Seaview balcony at Gold Coast Hotel, Hong Kong

The website says: Journey to a different galaxy in the Outer Space Room, where different planets hang from a ceiling of stars and a full space mural encourages a voyage for both the young and the young at heart. Little guests can sleep and play in their miniature bed, while adults can seek much-deserved rest in a giant crater bed.

Fantasy Land Hotel, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The website says: 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, Blast-off! Explore the universe in our new Space Theme room and enjoy the amenities.

Pengheng Space Capsules Hotel, Shenzhen, China

Offering what is likely the most of the this world experience, this hotel pushes the boundaries of design and futurism. This exciting space themed hotel has done away with rooms and features a sleeping capsule mimicking life in space. Not only this, the hotel is staffed entirely by robots so maybe the designs fromHotel.com aren’t so farfetched after all!

The Executive suite at the Kameha Grand Zurich Hotel, Switzerland

Insights into the engineering job market in the space economy

Spotlight on chris watson-bell, spotlight on natasha fletcher.

Psychological effects of perceived crowding on time displacement behavior: mediating roles of perceived control loss and negative emotion, moderated by perceived waiting time

• Published: 05 June 2024

Cite this article

• Jie Yin 1 ,
• Xuejie Zheng 2 &
• Yensen Ni   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1980-591X 3  

This study, grounded in the cognitive evaluation theory of psychology, examines how perceived crowding affects tourists’ time displacement behavior in crowded destinations, drawing on data from 494 analyzed questionnaires at Quanzhou West Street. With using regression analysis, it emphasizes that tourists’ perceived crowding primarily drives time displacement behavior, which is mediated by heightened negative emotions. Negative emotions emerge as the most significant outcome of perceived crowding. Furthermore, perceived waiting time notably amplifies crowding’s impact on control loss or time displacement behavior, surpassing its effect on negative emotions. We infer that the impact of perceived waiting time on crowding may not indefinitely amplify tourists’ extremely negative emotions. In addition, employing innovative fsQCA methodology provides a comprehensive insight into crowding’s interplay with control loss, negative emotions, and waiting time, offering a fresh perspective beyond regression analysis contained in the SEM model, which will be beneficial to future management of crowded destinations. This highlights the pressing need to address tourists’ emotional responses in crowding management, as these significantly shape motivation and expectations in destination settings. Therefore, the destination managers should reduce perceived waiting times, enhance crowding control, and implement crowding management to reduce tourists’ negative emotions.

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Data availability

The datasets used and/or analyzed during the current study are available from the first author on reasonable request at [email protected].

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Jie Yin has really appreciated the financial support from Youth Project of National Social Science Foundation, China (20CGL022). Yensen Ni has really appreciated the financial support from National Science and Technology Council, Taiwan (NSTC 112-2410-H-032-047).

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Yin, J., Zheng, X. & Ni, Y. Psychological effects of perceived crowding on time displacement behavior: mediating roles of perceived control loss and negative emotion, moderated by perceived waiting time. Curr Psychol (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06161-8

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Accepted : 15 May 2024

Published : 05 June 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-024-06161-8

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