Space Tourism, Features, Ongoing Projects and Challenges

Entrepreneur and pilot Gopi Thotakura is set to become the first Indian to venture into space as a tourist. Check Out Space Tourism, Features, Ongoing Projects and Challenges

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Context: Entrepreneur and pilot Gopi Thotakura is set to become the first Indian to venture into space as a tourist on the NS-25 mission of Blue Origin — a company founded by Jeff Bezos.

Understanding Space Tourism

Definition: Space tourism encompasses providing tourists with the opportunity to venture into space, either for leisure, recreation, or business purposes.
Types: There are two primary types of space tourism:

- Sub-orbital: Passengers are taken just beyond the Kármán line, spending a few minutes in outer space before returning to Earth. Examples include Blue Origin’s New Shepard missions.

- Orbital: Passengers travel much further, spending days or even weeks at altitudes of around 1.3 million feet. Space X’s Falcon 9 mission in September 2021 is an example of orbital space tourism.

Karman Line

· Definition: The Kármán line is an imaginary boundary used to define the border between outer space and Earth’s atmosphere.

· Altitude: It is typically set at an altitude of approximately 62 miles (or 100 kilometers).

· Origin: Named after Hungarian American engineer and physicist Theodore von Kármán.

· Fluid Boundary: The line is neither sharp nor well-defined, but it is often taken to encircle Earth at an altitude between 80 to 100 km (50 to 62 miles) above mean sea level.

· Scientific Assessment: Von Kármán assessed the distance from Earth at which aircraft could no longer rely on the force of lift for staying aloft, arriving at a figure close to 84 km (52 miles).

· Historical Dispute: The exact altitude varies; other figures include 80 km and 100 km.

Space Tourism Features

Space tourism is a recreational activity where private citizens pay to travel into space for a short time in a spacecraft operated by a private aerospace company. Space tourism involves aspects of space transportation, manned space flight, and commercialization of outer space. Space tourism can be categorized into two types:

Suborbital Space Tourism

Involves flying to the edge of space and experiencing weightlessness for a short period. Companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin offer suborbital space tourism flights.

Orbital Space Tourism

Involves traveling into orbit around the Earth and spending a few days in space. SpaceX plans to launch an orbital flight with a private citizen in 2023.

Factors that influence the emergence of space tourism include demand, ticket cost, motivation and risk, health risk, and policy. Space tourism can harm the environment because launching rockets and spacecraft requires a lot of energy and can produce significant amounts of air and noise pollution. These emissions can contribute to climate change and harm the atmosphere.

Space Tourism Ongoing Projects

Project	Description	Status
Axiom Space	Utilizes SpaceX’s Crew Dragon flights to send crews to the International Space Station (ISS). Mission 1 flew in April 2022, Mission 2 in May 2023, and Mission 3 in January 2024. Fourth mission planned for October 2024. Aims to create a non-NASA market for human spaceflight for future commercial space stations.	Ongoing
Boeing Starliner	Developed under NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, Boeing sells seats for space tourists. Proposal includes one seat per flight for a spaceflight participant at a competitive price with Roscosmos charges.	Ongoing development
Polaris Program	Initiated by Jared Isaacman, commander, and financier of Inspiration4 mission. Comprises three missions. Polaris Dawn, the first mission, plans to launch four private astronauts in a Crew Dragon spacecraft to earth orbit. Aims to surpass the earth orbit altitude record set by Gemini XI and include the first private Extravehicular activity (EVA).	Ongoing

Challenges in Space Tourism

Cost Barrier: Space tourism remains prohibitively expensive, with tickets typically costing at least a million dollars, making it inaccessible to the majority.
Environmental Impact: Studies suggest that space tourism could contribute to environmental damage, as rockets emit gaseous and solid chemicals directly into the upper atmosphere. Research from University College London (UCL), the University of Cambridge, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) highlights the warming effects of soot emissions from rocket launches.
Safety Concerns: Despite stringent safety standards, space tourism poses inherent risks. Statistics indicate that approximately 3% of astronauts have died during space flight, underscoring safety as a paramount concern.

Space Tourism FAQs

What is the space tourism?

Space tourism is another niche segment of the aviation industry that seeks to give tourists the ability to become astronauts and experience space travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes.

Who discovered space tourism?

Since the flight of the world's first space tourist, American businessman Dennis Tito, on April 28, 2001, space tourism has gained new prominence as more suborbital and orbital tourism opportunities have become available.

How important is space tourism?

There are a few scientific benefits of space tourism, though the most recent flights were perhaps not long enough to offer too much insight. When, in the future, we see longer space flights, we'll have the opportunity to study long-term physiological changes in humans as a result of being in space.