​In 2001, Dennis Tito became the first space tourist, and a few weeks ago he announced that he had bought tickets to board the future SpaceX rocket to fly around the moon. In two decades of space tourism, things have changed dramatically: access to orbit and aboard the International Space Station has become more accessible than ever (even if it’s far from accessible to everyone), and what’s more, new destinations are emerging.

To be honest, space tourists existed even before Dennis Tito, but nobody called them tourists. Sometimes people who weren’t necessarily career astronauts flew aboard space shuttles and made the flight more of an image exercise. NASA or the US had certain pay rules and they did it with these kind of flights, and these people were called in NASA jargon “mission specialists” or “payload specialists”, a name that covered a wide range of occupations, from researchers who actually had to work in orbit and conduct experiments, right down to politicians (the current NASA administrator flew aboard the space shuttle Columbia when he was a senator) or Saudi princes (Sultan bin Salman Al Saud flew aboard the space shuttle Discovery as part of the STS- 51-G). However, it was only in 2001 that the first people appeared who clearly paid money to get on board the International Space Station.

The first space tourists

This became possible thanks to the existence of the space shuttle, which could launch and return 7 astronauts to Earth. This allowed the Russian space agency to sell a seat in the Soyuz capsule to those with handheld devices, thereby generating additional revenue (a ticket to the International Space Station cost about $20 million in the early 2000s, rising to $35 million by the end of the decade ).

The deal was brokered by Space Adventures and Dennis Tito was followed by Mark Shuttleworth (2002), Gregory Olsen (2005), Anusha Ansari (2006), Charles Simoni (2007 and 2009), Richard Harriott (2008) and Guy Laliberte (2009). ). The streak of tourists was interrupted by the fact that NASA decommissioned the space shuttle in 2011, which drastically reduced the opportunities for American astronauts to visit the station: they had to rent seats in the Soyuz capsule, the only vehicle still flying into orbit with a crew on board , and the Russian space agency was more than happy to do so, as NASA paid about $50 million for the ticket (a sum that later rose to $90 million).

The situation has changed since the Dragon capsule is regularly used for orbital flights: not only did it start to be rented out to tourists, but SpaceX has already carried out an autonomous orbital mission (Inspiration-4) without the participation of NASA, in which 4 people participated. spent almost 3 days in orbit (without Dragon docking with the International Space Station). In addition to the Inspiration-4 mission, the Dragon capsule was also leased by Axiom Space, who used it to launch a crew of what they called “private astronauts” (among us, anyway) aboard the International Space Station, some tourists).

Axiom Space and visits aboard the International Space Station

The Axiom-1 crew consisted of Michael Lopez-Alegria, Larry Connor, Eitan Stibbe, and Mark Pati, who spent 17 days aboard the International Space Station. It’s true that Michael Lopez-Alegria is a veteran astronaut who has already flown 4 space shuttle missions, but that doesn’t mean this mission wasn’t touristy. At first, there was a lot of talk about the many experiments that private cosmonauts would conduct, but in the end it turned out that they could not complete many of the tasks: it was not easy to adapt to the conditions in orbit, and their schedule was too busy.

This has forced NASA to change the rules for future missions with tourists aboard the space station (at least for missions conducted by the US sector): the crew must include an experienced astronaut to help the crew acclimate. In addition, the company organizing the expedition must submit for approval a plan of experiments that it intends to conduct aboard the station, which must be approved by NASA and included in the astronaut program.

Axiom-2 is due to launch next year, and we already know that the crew will include Peggy Whitson, a three-orbit veteran and multiple-time record holder who currently works at Axiom Space, but that was set before NASA changed the rules. The rules, which are likely to affect revenue for Axiom Space (which is selling space in the Dragon capsule for $55 million), as it planned not to have a professional astronaut on board after the second mission and to use all four seats aboard the Dragon capsule — estimated to be Axiom Space did not make a profit on the first two flights and plans to make subsequent missions profitable.

The plans after Axiom 2 are not very clear, but there are rumors that Tom Cruise will also arrive aboard the space station with a cameraman to shoot scenes from the upcoming film, possibly outside the ship.

Those rules are likely to be eased after Axiom Space docks its own modules to the International Space Station, possibly starting in 2024. Or when private space stations appear. Because as we approach 2030, we’re going to have to get used to the idea that the ISS won’t be in orbit for many more years and will be replaced by several smaller private space stations. Some of them may even be designed exclusively for tourists, real orbital hotels.

Starship promises visits to the moon

Meanwhile, SpaceX, together with Jared Isaacman (billionaire from the Inspiration-4 mission), are simultaneously launching their own commercial missions called Polaris: next year, Isaacman is set to become the first tourist to perform extravehicular activity, after which he prepares to visit the Hubble Space Telescope and even be part of the first to the crew of the Starship.

The Falcon 9 and the Dragon capsule have made these space missions possible in recent years. If SpaceX can prove that Starship can be safely launched into orbit, a new chapter in space tourism will open: prices will drop significantly, and we will see tens, perhaps hundreds, of space tourists each year flying either to orbital stations, to the moon, or to the moon. , who knows, maybe even to Mars.

Until then, if we’re tight on cash during this more delicate time, we have an alternative to a short-term suborbital flight in Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard capsule: a flight for just a few minutes. It comes as Blue Origin investigates the last flight of the New Shepard rocket, which ended in an explosion, but thankfully no one was on board — because spaceflight is not, and never will be, without risks.

And let’s not forget that Dennis Tito only bought 2 of the 12 available seats on the Starship he’ll be flying around the moon (for himself and his wife), so he’s waiting for 10 more to join him. And they will have to wait for the flight of the crew of Yusaku Maezawa, who, if you remember, was the first to reserve the Starship. I’m sure these two will be watching Starship’s first orbital test scheduled for November with interest.

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