Space tourism

Space tourism is <a href="/facts/Human_spaceflight/VgVxsGmq">human space travel</a> for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, <a href="/facts/Sub-orbital_spaceflight/NdLRlGIq">suborbital</a> and lunar space tourism. Tourists are motivated by the possibility of viewing Earth from space, feeling weightlessness, experiencing extremely high speed and something unusual, and contributing to science.
Space tourism started in April 2001, when American businessman and engineer <a href="/facts/Dennis_Tito/kJdTGKfU">Dennis Tito</a> became the first ever space tourist to travel to space aboard a Soyuz-TM32 spacecraft. During the period from 2001 to 2009, seven space tourists made eight space flights aboard a Russian <a href="/facts/Soyuz_(spacecraft)/meooRg7U">Soyuz spacecraft</a> to the <a href="/facts/International_Space_Station/VNPUBz9m">International Space Station</a>, brokered by American company <a href="/facts/Space_Adventures/tfYp7CVq">Space Adventures</a> in conjunction with <a href="/facts/Roscosmos/GzWfae7U">Roscosmos</a> and <a href="/facts/S.P._Korolev_Rocket_and_Space_Corporation_Energia/fThW3H3L">RSC Energia</a>. Iranian-American businesswoman <a href="/facts/Anousheh_Ansari/SRGL5XRr">Anousheh Ansari</a> became the first ever female space tourist in September 2006. The publicized price was in the range of US$20–25 million per trip. Some space tourists have signed contracts with third parties to conduct certain research activities while in orbit. By 2007, space tourism was thought to be one of the earliest <a href="/facts/Market_economy/d56S7haK">markets</a> that would emerge for commercial spaceflight.: 11 
Space tourists need to be in good physical form before going to space. In particular, they have to train for fast acceleration or g-forces in a centrifuge and weightlessness by flying in a high-altitude jet plane doing parabolic arcs. They may have to learn how to operate and even fix parts of the spaceship using simulators.
Russia halted orbital space tourism in 2010 due to the increase in the International Space Station crew size, using the seats for expedition crews that would previously have been sold to paying spaceflight participants. Orbital tourist flights were set to resume in 2015 but the planned flight was postponed indefinitely. Russian orbital tourism eventually resumed with the launch of <a href="/facts/Soyuz_MS-20/QhrCPhWj">Soyuz MS-20</a> in 2021.
On June 7, 2019, <a href="/facts/National_Aeronautics_and_Space_Association/TIMCV0yV">NASA</a> announced that starting in 2020, the organization aims to start allowing private astronauts to go on the International Space Station, with the use of the <a href="/facts/SpaceX/2tKHsVdJ">SpaceX</a> <a href="/facts/Crew_Dragon/Wy8kUegK">Crew Dragon</a> spacecraft and the <a href="/facts/Boeing_Starliner/VHmM9Yp7">Boeing Starliner</a> spacecraft for public astronauts, which is planned to be priced at 35,000 <a href="/facts/United_States_dollar/naEEDUhC">USD</a> per day for one astronaut, and an estimated 50 million <a href="/facts/United_States_dollar/naEEDUhC">USD</a> for the ride there and back.
Work also continues towards developing suborbital space tourism vehicles. This is being done by aerospace companies like <a href="/facts/Blue_Origin/CxFvEmDr">Blue Origin</a> and <a href="/facts/Virgin_Galactic/BrJavxml">Virgin Galactic</a>. SpaceX announced in 2018 that they are <a href="/facts/DearMoon_project/qszpD5EG">planning on sending space tourists</a>, including <a href="/facts/Yusaku_Maezawa/PKraH3zD">Yusaku Maezawa</a>, on a <a href="/facts/Free-return_trajectory/2oquNMDy">free-return trajectory</a> around the <a href="/facts/Moon/zKHqEMPb">Moon</a> on the <a href="/facts/SpaceX_Starship/zkm1P9kA">Starship</a>, however the project was cancelled on June 1, 2024.

Space tourism open-in-new

Space tourism