Commercial Space Industry

Is Commercial Space Tourism a viable industry?

Space travel, I am sure, has been on the minds of many people for hundreds or even thousands of years. Most people that look up into the sky, have had a thought of what it would be like to be in outer space and beyond. In the 1960s many events have sparked the interest and thoughts of space tourism. On August 22, 1963, the USAF X-15 spaceplane sets the world altitude record at 354,200ft. (www.spacefuture.com). Papers such as, “Hotels in Space,” were published about space tourism, both by, Barron Hilton and Kraft Ehricke. And in the 1980s, designs of passenger vehicles were published by David Ashford, and panel discussions on space tourism held at L-5 Society Space Development Conference in 1985 were presented. (www.spacefuture.com). The U.S. and England were not the only ones with space tourism on their mind, the next year a book on space tourism was published in Japan by Makoto Nagatomo, and the year after that, designs of passenger-carrying upper stage of the German Saenger vehicle, was presented at IAF Congress, by Dietrich Koelle. (www.spacefuture.com). Testimonies of those that have seen Earth from space, say the psychological impact is astounding, described by Frank White. In the late 1980s, a major construction company, presented a design for an orbital hotel in “Feasibility of Space Tourism – Cost Study for Space Tour.” In the 1990s, more market research was being performed, surveys on space tourism, were extremely popular and showed the potential demands. The first flights of the reusable VTOL test rocket DC-X demonstrated that operating a rocket-powered vehicle was no more complex or expensive than operating an aircraft. Also, the Space Transportation Association in Washington, DC, started a study of space tourism with cooperation from NASA. In October 1995, the U.S. Office of Commercial Space Transportation (OCST) formally moved into the FAA, Federal Aviation Administration. This move recognized that the aviation industry’s enormous experience should be used to make space travel a commercial activity. The 1990s was the largest push towards space tourism, paper after paper, was being published about this topic, and too many to list. Many different societies made space tourism one of their formal objectives. Japan’s first space travel company, Spacetopia, Inc. was founded in January of 1998 and in May of the same year, the FAA starts the study of extending air traffic management upwards to include low Earth orbit. In the 2000s a TV program on space tourism broadcasted by the ex-CEO of Lockheed-Martin, Norman Augustine. Forbes magazine runs first article on space tourism: “The ultimate trip”. Rodney Slater, US Transportation Secretary announces, that they are doubling the budget to the Office of Commercial Space Transportation (OCST). The International Space University, includes Design Project on Space Tourism, for the first time. France, holds their first meeting on space tourism, held at the French space agency. On April 28, 2001, Dennis Tito, becomes humanity’s first paying space tourist, launching aboard a Russian Soyuz bound for the International Space Station, costing around 20 million dollars. (www.spacefuture.com). In the same year NASA, for the first time, use funds to ask US citizens whether they would like to take a trip to space – and the results strongly endorse the idea. In 2003, Jeff Bezos, announces that Blue Origin will be joining the ranks of space vehicle developers.

I could go on and on about the popular demand for space tourism, but if you would like to see more of the accomplishments and positive hype you can visit (www.spacefuture.com) where all of this information was obtained. It was so interesting to read all of the different progressions in this exciting race towards space tourism.  

I see space-tourism growing and never stopping, not only for the interest that I feel the world has, but because of all of the money that has been invested into it. I am sure, that these companies would like to see a return on their investment. I do think that once space-tourism becomes a regular why of transportation in society, it will become more accessible to the general public. But for now, it will remain a luxury of the ultra-wealthy. If the prices become reasonable, I can see it becoming a means of transportation, only if they can provide statistics that it will benefit the planet. If there is going to be hotels and people living on different planets, like Mars, transportation services will be necessary.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has established a minimum set of requirements for pilots of human spaceflight and I have listed the information that I retrieved from (Goehlich, R. A.) below, along with other preferred qualifications.

·        Pilots must possess and carry an FAA pilot certificate with an instrument rating

·        Current medical standards for FAA Class I certificate are reasonable for crews flying suborbital

·        Training in operating aircraft while wearing a pressure suit

·        Extensive training in emergency procedures and crew coordination

·        Pilots with experience in jet fighters, which travel at high speed and require quick decision making, would make since suborbital flight involves high-speeds

·        Pilots must have knowledge of advanced aerodynamics, rocket mechanics, aerospace physiology, high-altitude operations, ballistic flight, re-entry procedures training, navigation training, powerless flight, and emergency procedure training

Single engine fighter pilots and test pilots are generally the most qualified to be space tourism pilots. The company Virgin Galactic have been recruiting pilots from its commercial airlines who have at least 3000 flight hours and experience in multiple aircrafts. Pilots will need hands-on experience, centrifuge training and microgravity training. They also must master the three phases of flight for suborbital vehicles, the boost phase, re-entry phase, and the glide phase.

Goehlich, R. A., Anderson, J. K., Harrold, N. N., Bemis, J. A., Nettleingham, M. T., Cobin, J. M., Zimmerman, B. R., Avni, B. L., Gonyea, M. D., & Ilchena, N. Y. (2013). Pilots for space tourism. Space Policy Journal, 29(2), 144-153. Retrieved from https://commons.erau.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://search.yahoo.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1001&context=ww-graduate-studies.

(www.spacefuture.com)P.W. (n.d.). Space Tourism – The Story So Far. Retrieved February 16, 2018, from http://www.spacefuture.com/tourism/timeline.shtml