Space Tourism- A Viable Industry?

While human space tourism may be a relatively new concept, private industry and space is not.  The first object in space that was entirely built by a private company was Telstar 1, a communications satellite launched into orbit by a NASA rocket back in 1962. (VOX, 2014) Hundreds of other private satellites have since been launched by NASA, until 1984 when Congress passed a law allowing private companies to conduct their own launches.  The next law in 1990 actually required NASA to pay private companies to launch their payloads when possible, sparking a huge multi-billion dollar industry.  Following the retirement of NASA’s space shuttle, President Obama directed NASA to create a program that awarded grants to private companies in the development of spacecraft to transport astronauts to and from the space station.

The first civilian space tourist was Dennis Tito in 2001.  Tito hitched a ride with the Russians to the international space station for a mere $20 million.  In 2002, South African Mark Shuttleworth also shelled out $20 million for a ride to space.  In 2004, President Bush signed legislation designed to help the civilian space industry flourish with limited interference from the Federal Aviation Administration by means of a Phased approach to regulating commercial human space flights. (Press B, n.d) The initial set of regulations dealt with crew qualifications and training, and informed consent to passengers.  The next set of rules could not be affected into law until 8 years later (2012), unless an incident causing death or serious bodily harm occurred.  I would have to guess that that legislation allowed private industries to innovate more freely, and not suffocated by the government.  I’m also a strong believer that our government’s role is to protect our citizens from threats, foreign and domestic, not necessarily from ourselves.  If people want to pay $250,000 to The Spaceship Company for a ride to space, as long as they are properly informed of the hazards and risk, fly on. 

With increasing number of companies developing equipment and vessels for space travel, it is almost a certainty that we will see some form of space tourism in our future, and not as expensive as we’d all expect.  A company flying under the radar XCOR, is developing a single occupant (besides pilot) craft that will be able to enter sub-orbit for the bargain price of $95,000. (KGET, 2015) Even at that price, it still may be in the bucket list category, but possibly in the future we may have a new way to fly across the world in record time.  (Great 12-minute video HERE)

The FAA regulations for (space) pilots are fairly generic, at least for now- Pilot certificate, current medical, able to demonstrate vehicle proficiency, emergency procedures so and so on.  The private companies looking for pilots have a little more stringent skill sets required, such as this short list from Virgin Galactic: U.S. citizenship (to satisfy export regulations) a current FAA commercial pilot license and FAA medical clearance. Degree-level qualification in a relevant technical field. Graduate of a recognized test pilot school, with at least two and a half years of postgraduate flight test experience. Diverse flying background with a minimum of 3,000 hours flying, to include considerable experience of large multi-engine aircraft and high-performance fast jet aircraft and low lift-to-drag experience in complex aircraft. Operational experience in an aerospace aviation project or business.

Preference given to those with experience in spaceflight, commercial flight operations or flight instruction. (NBC,2013)  Basically the 1% of the 1%...Good luck

References:

VOX (2014, September 17) How did private companies get involved in space?. Retrieved from http://www.vox.com/cards/private-space-flight/private-spaceflight-history-NASA 

KGET (2015, February 2). Special Report: Mojave Air and SpacePort. Retrieved from http://www.kerngoldenempire.com/news/top-stories/kget-special-report-mojave-air-and-spaceport

NBC. (2011, April 13). Dozens apply for space pilot jobs. NBC News. Retrieved from http://cosmiclog.nbcnews.com/_news/2011/04/13/6466987-dozens-apply-for-space-pilot-jobs

Press, B. (n.d.). Govu0027t Issues Proposed Space Tourism Rules | Space.com. Retrieved From http://www.space.com/1904-gov-issues-proposed-space-tourism-rules.html