Space Tourism, the Commercial Frontier

Space Travel For All Is No Dream, Say Leading Space Scientists

Nov 18, 2008

British economist Dr. Patrick Collins has been making the case for wider space travel for years. Almost anybody could go into space, and now you can book a ticket.

Want to give your parents an unforgettable golden wedding present? Book a trip around the moon. If that sounds like pie in the sky, Dr. Patrick Q. Collins has news for you. On his website, and in his travels to scientific meetings all over the world, he's spreading the word that space is the next big holiday destination. Commercial spaceflight is coming, and almost everyone who can take a conventional airline flight should be able to enjoy it.

Spaceflight Is For Everyone

We think of astronauts as a super-fit elite, yet most normally healthy people could go into space. Collins says space is for everyone. He's Professor of Environmental Policy at Azabu University in Japan, a leading researcher in commercial space exploitation, and a former astronaut candidate. He wants to change our view of space from an exclusive military arena to an inclusive, open world resource.

His ideas for an orbital sports stadium and the games that could be played there may look like science fiction, but they're built on a solid foundation of technology and economics that takes in the mundane things, like toilet facilities and catering, as well as the fantasy of soaring in zero-g on a pair of lightweight fabric wings. His Space Future website is packed with ideas, news, information and ways to make the dream of space travel a reality for everyone.

Space Tourism Could Boost Earth Economy

The tools for building suborbital passenger spacecraft have been around since the 1960s. With the right incentives from governments, space hotels might have been possible in the 1970s, and orbital passenger spacecraft in the 1980s, changing the face of the world and delivering a huge boost to the economy. But, while the Cold War and its aftermath dictated Government agendas worldwide and space was seen as a site for new weapons platforms, there wasn't much incentive for developers to look at cheap, re-usable, practical ways to get ordinary people into space.

Governments Encourage Commercial Spaceflight

Now Government agencies are beginning to see the potential of a more inclusive approach to space travel. The American Federal Aviation Administration is keen for venture companies to develop commercial space vehicles, and the European Space Agency offered prizes of up to 150,000 euros to encourage companies developing space tourism. Hard-nosed businessmen like Collins' fellow Briton Richard Branson are taking space seriously. Branson's Virgin Galactic is now taking bookings for commercial spaceflights. Prices are currently high, but as with terrestrial aviation they will reduce as technology improves and demand builds.

Space Travel Benefits Earthbound Economy

Collins thinks this is a way to ensure that space exploration benefits the whole world. "Space travel services for the general public have been widely recognized as the major space business of the future. They could grow to more than $100 billion a year and employ millions of people." Given the current economic crisis, it might be more effective for Governments to put their money into an expanding industry with a concrete scientific and economic basis than to bet again on the fantasy gambles of the money markets.

Collins isn't the only academic to see this as a viable option. In May 2008, Dr. George C. Neild told the Federal Aviation Administration's International Space Development Conference that private industry would soon replace NASA as "the major player in low-Earth orbit." Science fiction is rapidly becoming reality.

The copyright of the article Space Tourism, the Commercial Frontier in Astronomy & Space is owned by Helen McCarthy. Permission to republish Space Tourism, the Commercial Frontier in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.