When Uber Rich Space-crazed Cowboys Shoot For The Stars
Why The Nascent Space Tourism Is Set To Rise In The Space Economy
Richard Branson loves things that fly. On 11 July 2021, he flew from Spaceport America in New Mexico on his Virgin Galactic (VG) spaceplane, VSS Unity. Released at an altitude of about 12km from a bigger carrier aircraft, Unity’s rocket motor then ignited, blasting to a height of 86km in the atmosphere.
The dream of lifting the nascent space tourism industry off the ground is shared by Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin successfully launched its New Shepard system on 20 July 2021, crossing the Kármán line, over 100km above mean sea level. Future spaceflight customers will touch the edge of space in a capsule that detaches from a small rocket; with three parachutes guiding its descent to Earth.
The Future Of Commercial Suborbital Travel
Branson has a line-up of some 600 customers who placed deposits on up to US$250,000 ticket price. The promise is that passengers will fly over 85km above Earth’s atmosphere and experience the feeling of weightlessness for a few minutes. With the goal to commercialise spaceflight technology, the next iteration of Virgin Galactic’s spacecraft, is expected to begin in 2022.
Zoom From New York To Shanghai For Lunch In 40 minutes?
On 5 May 2021, Elon Musk’s SpaceX successfully landed its futuristic Starship, a rocket and spacecraft combination that could ferry more than 100 people and up to 100 tons of cargo to the Moon and Mars. The space-obsessed billionaire has plans to fly 100 people in his Starship around the world in mere minutes. Imagine the reality of a 15-hour flight to Shanghai from New York reduced to a mere 39-minute travel.
The New Space Economy
In a 2021 report, UBS predicts that space tourism is estimated to reach cUS$900 billion plus by 2030. Possibly, 10-hour or more duration airplane flights would “be cannibalised” by point-to-point flights on rockets.
Those with high hopes of reduced space ticket prices will have to wait till the cows come home. Clearly, limited supply from VG and Blue Origin will mean skyrocketing prices with burgeoning ticket demand.
Which simply means that a sweet escape to the stars can only be procured by the audacious with money to burn.
