Passengers at Singapore’s Changi Airport may well be rubbing shoulders with astronauts if an ambitious plan for space tourists takes off.
According to a leading space tourism exponent, we will all be seeing each other on the dark side of the moon sooner rather than later,
Within 10 years, tens of thousands of people are expected to be conquering the final frontier miles above the earth for pleasure, said Space Adventures chief executive Eric Anderson.
His company has already put four space tourists into orbit at around £25 million each, but Anderson unveiled bigger plans for this new type of travel at World Travel Market.
He is currently taking bookings, at $102,000 a person, for a sub-orbital voyage which he hopes to launch in 2009. This rivals what Virgin chief Sir Richard Branson is planning for his SpaceShipOne venture.
“If you have a £10,000 deposit, then we will take a booking,” said Anderson. The trip goes 100km above the planet and allows travellers to look down on earth from the edge of space and go into weightlessness.
Space Adventures is also offering – for $100 million – a chance to circumnavigate the moon and live out the Pink Floyd song.
Anderson said more than half of people recently polled wanted to go into space and it is only commercial flights that will drive the market as the likes of NASA do not want to get involved in the market.
His company is currently looking at take-off sites for a Russian-built craft, with Singapore’s Changi Airport understood to be involved in discussions and a site near Dubai. Sir Richard’s project has already identified New Mexico for its launch.
“We are getting regular enquires for trips,” added Anderson.