Headline, July 28 2026/ SPACE : ''' TOURS TAKEOFF TOAST* '''

SPACE : 

''' TOURS TAKEOFF TOAST* '''

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IN 2001 - DENNIS TITO - AN AMERICAN entrepreneur, paid a reported $20 million for a voyage to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, officially becoming the first space tourist.

'' It was eight days of euphoria,'' he said from the steppes from Kazakhstan after returning back to Mother Earth.

Twenty-five years later, the frenzy surrounding the initial public offering of SpaceX, along with the recent success of NASA's Artemis II mission, has people and students dreaming of space travel again.

The modern space tourism landscape is more robust and commercial than when Mr. Tito took flight.

For one, it is dominated by private, billionaire led companies. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic, Elon Musk's SpaceX and Jeff Bezos Blue Origin lead the way, though their short-term plans have diverged in recent months.

As of this year, 140 people have traveled to space as tourists, most of them on short trips to and from the edge of the atmosphere. But broader plans for more ambitious spaceflights - trips that take passengers on longer journeys, in orbits - haven't materialized beyond a handful of billionaire-financed exceptions.

All the while, the development of a wider market for space tourism has been hampered by delays, rising costs and shifting corporate and governmental priorities.

Here's what to know about the current state of space-tourism and where it might be heading :

' The Suborbital Experience ' : Today a vast majority of commercial spaceflights are suborbital, and Mr. Branson's Virgin Galactic is the main provider.

In a round trip of about 90 minutes, tourists ascend close to the Karman line, the internationally recognised boundary for space, about 62 miles [100 kilometers] above sea level, where they experience several minutes of weightlessness.

Jamila Gilbert flew aboard Virgin Galactic's final test flight before it began offering commercial services in 2023.

In a recent interview, she said she remembered unstrapping her seatbelt and floating around inside the cabin while Earth loomed ethereally outside her window.

'' Everything you have ever known have lived within the bounds of it,'' she said, '' and all of a sudden you're looking at it from above.''

Before the flight to space, tourists must undergo three days of training at the company's Spaceport America, in New Mexico, which includes medical checks, mission briefings and both physical and mental preparation.

On launch day, a Virgin Galactic carrier plane called the Virgin MotherShip climbs for about 50 minutes to around 50,000 feet, [ 15,340 meters ], before releasing the attached spaceship that will carry passengers the rest of the way to Karman line.

'' When you escape the atmosphere,'' said Ms. Gilbert, '' you're suddenly in the quietest place you've ever been.''

Virgin Galactic has flown 32 passengers to space since 2018. The price of a ticket was initially $200,000, and it has climbed steadily since. after a two year pause, the company resumed ticket sales this year, with a price tag of $750,000 perseat.

This summer, the company is testing its new SpaceShip, which increases passenger capacity to six, up from four Suborbital trips are expected to resume by the end of the year.

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