Photo: NASA
And there you have it: from 2020, space tourism is officially open for business. Over the weekend, NASA announced that it is turning parts of the International Space Station into a hotel, opening it for those willing to pay the price.
On Saturday (June 7), a bunch of NASA officials, led by the organization’s CFO Jeff DeWit, detailed the plan to allow commercial business on the station, including tourism, manufacturing and production.
As far as tourism goes, there’s a catch, To be able to get accommodations on the station, tourists will have to be from the United States. They will be shuttled to orbit by means of rockets operated by SpaceX and Boeing, and can stay in orbit for up to 30 days.
The price for one night on the station is around $35,000, and the 30-day stay limits is kind of mandatory, as rides to and from the station cannot be summoned on a whim. That would put the total for the trip to over $1 million.
And that’s not including transport, training and whatever else will be required to make the average rich Joe a space-faring creature. And also, as DeWit said, the steep price will by no means offer the same conditions rich folks are used to from Hilton or Marriott.
As per NASA, tourists on the ISS will however be scarce, as “the agency can accommodate up to two short-duration private astronaut missions per year.” All such missions will be privately funded and dedicated, meaning the government will not spend your money to send people up.
The tourists will probably not share the same living space as the working astronauts. The agency says it will make of the ports of the ISS “available for industry to attach a commercial module to support commercial activities.”
At the same time, research and experimental projects on the station will continue just like before.
As far as tourism goes, there’s a catch, To be able to get accommodations on the station, tourists will have to be from the United States. They will be shuttled to orbit by means of rockets operated by SpaceX and Boeing, and can stay in orbit for up to 30 days.
The price for one night on the station is around $35,000, and the 30-day stay limits is kind of mandatory, as rides to and from the station cannot be summoned on a whim. That would put the total for the trip to over $1 million.
And that’s not including transport, training and whatever else will be required to make the average rich Joe a space-faring creature. And also, as DeWit said, the steep price will by no means offer the same conditions rich folks are used to from Hilton or Marriott.
As per NASA, tourists on the ISS will however be scarce, as “the agency can accommodate up to two short-duration private astronaut missions per year.” All such missions will be privately funded and dedicated, meaning the government will not spend your money to send people up.
The tourists will probably not share the same living space as the working astronauts. The agency says it will make of the ports of the ISS “available for industry to attach a commercial module to support commercial activities.”
At the same time, research and experimental projects on the station will continue just like before.
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