OVER THE EDGE
Space tourism is fast becoming a reality
The day is coming when one can book a journey to the upper atmosphere and beyond simply to sate one’s curiosity, without being part of a formal scientific space mission. The UK government aims to enable commercial spaceflight from the country’s spaceports by 2020, and it’s certainly not alone in its optimism. But just how close are we to seeing a commercially viable and safe passenger spacecraft?
Soon enough, if you look to innovators like Richard Branson and Elon Musk, whose companies have moved past the drawing board and conducted flight tests. NASA has chosen Boeing and Musk’s SpaceX to provide commercial crew transportation to the International Space Station (ISS), while Sierra Nevada Corporation (SNC) will be carrying cargo.
With the various commercial passenger spacecraft in development, space tourists will be able to visit destinations in low Earth orbit — an altitude between the Earth’s surface and 2,000 km. At that height, they will experience weightlessness and see the curvature of Earth. We take a look at five spacecraft that will soon open their payload doors to take tourists to places they have never been before.
Every American spacecraft that has carried astronauts into space was designed and built by Boeing or its heritage companies, so one would expect the manufacturer to join the space tourism race. Its Starliner spacecraft, which is being developed in collaboration with NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, will be able to accommodate either seven passengers or a mix of crew and cargo. Boeing envisages further development of the Starliner that will take commercial passengers to low Earth orbit destinations, such as the ISS. Its crew flight test is slated for August 2018.
DREAM CHASER SPACE SYSTEM
SNC’s Dream Chaser spaceplane has been in development for more than 10 years. Described as a “space utility vehicle” (SUV), it is an unmanned and reusable spacecraft, and has been selected by NASA to transport cargo to and from the ISS at least six times between 2019 and 2024. Its manned, human-rated version is the Dream Chaser Space System, which will be capable of taking up to seven passengers to low Earth orbit. Launching will be vertical through rocket propulsion.
SPACESHIPTWO
One of the most high-profile space tourism projects is the SpaceShipTwo spaceplane designed by legendary aerospace engineer Burt Rutan and built by The Spaceship Company, which is owned by Branson’s Virgin Galactic. Its latest iteration, VSS Unity, is now undergoing flight testing. SpaceShipTwo will be lifted by WhiteKnightTwo, a jet-powered aircraft, to launch altitude, where the former will be released to fly into the upper atmosphere using its rocket engine. SpaceShipTwo will carry six passengers and two pilots on suborbital spaceflights. It will then glide back to Spaceport America in New Mexico, US. Branson recently announced that commercial passenger operations could begin by the end of 2018.
DRAGON2
In 2012, Dragon became the first commercial spacecraft in history to deliver cargo to the ISS and safely return cargo to Earth. Developed by SpaceX, the vehicle is now being refined to become Dragon 2, which will be able to carry passengers. Earlier this year, Musk announced that Dragon 2 will attempt to fly to passengers on a long loop around the moon near the end of 2018. The capsule will ride on a Falcon Heavy rocket, and the system will be operated, in large part, autonomously.
Book a journey to the upper atmosphere simply to sate one’s curiosity
Space tourists will be able to visit destinations in low Earth orbit
NEW SHEPARD
Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos’ bid for space tourism comes through his private spaceflight company, Blue Origin. It has developed the New Shephard, a space vehicle designed to take six people into orbit 100 km above Earth. It is fully automated and will be launched on top of an 18-metre reusable rocket that will then return to its launch site. Large windows make up a third of the capsule, offering passengers exceptional views. On returning to the atmosphere, thrusters will fire and parachutes will deploy for a soft landing. The rocket has flown to suborbital space at least five times.
CONCEPTS
There are more planned passenger spacecraft, of course, that are in conceptual or early developmental stages. One example is Bristol Spaceplanes’ Ascender, a jet- and rocket-powered spaceplane designed to take a pilot and passenger to an altitude of 100 km. There’s also the Spaceliner by the German Aerospace Centre (DLR), which aims to take 50 passengers on hypersonic trips by 2050. Airbus’ Spaceplane is designed to take space tourists on suborbital flights.