ABSTRACT

Space tourism is a recent phenomenon where wealthy individuals or corporations are

spending up to $25 million for a chance to travel in low Earth orbit (LEO) and beyond.
California multi-millionaire Dennis Tito spent $20 million on space tourism to become
the first paying tourist, in 2001. Associates and former JPL scientist, traveled aboard a
Russian Soyuz capsule, launched by U. S. company, Space Adventures, Ltd, where he
spent 7 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
Space tourism has become a bigger goal over the past few years as NASA has announced
they are cutting down on the ventures and the Shuttle will be retired in 2010.
NASA hopes to rely on the commercial orbital transportation systems (COTS) to shuttle
astronauts and cargo to the ISS thereafter and it looks like commercial craft will be
available by then.
If you've ever seen Arnold Schwarzenegger's movie "Total Recall" you'll know that space
tourism was a central theme to that movie. But, space tourism is not just some pipe dream
as companies like Scaled Composites, Blue Origin, and SpaceX are developing craft and
programs to do just this.
Following Dennis Tito as the second to partake of the space tourism industry, in 2002
was South African millionaire, Mark Shuttleworth, who certainly was "shuttle worthy"
as he also spent around $20 million to travel aboard a Russian Soyuz TM-34 and spend 8
days aboard the ISS.
Space tourism has been criticized as being a "playground for the rich." And, while there
may be some current truth to this, the vision for the future is to make space tourism
affordable and available to the middle class in just a few, short years. While 'N Sync
singer Lance Bass may have fallen short of cash and Madonna was voted down in her
request, still many companies are working on making suborbital flights affordable to the
general public.
Tired of Disneyland and Magic Mountain? Been to all the major continents and want
more? Done all of the extreme sports and just can't get that adrenaline rush anymore?
Space tourism may just be the Next Big Thing on your agenda in the not too distant
future.
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Even Bigelow Aerospace and the X-Prize Foundation are getting in on the act by offering
monetary awards for breakthrough technology in the space tourism industry. By most
estimates, space tourism may be a reality as soon as 2009 or 2010. Just as there was a
"race to space" decades ago, now there is a race to space tourism in this decade.
So, if you've got the bug to travel and have always dreamed of going beyond the confines
of Earth, that possibility may just exist sooner than you think. You'll have to wait a few
years to book your flight though as all of the details are being worked out. Until, then
come back to this site often to see what others are doing to advance the space tourism
industry.
Space sports are coming sooner than you think. Space tourism is finally happening within
the next couple of years. Space hotels will soon be established to house tourists and as
space travel becomes less and less expensive, space habitats will most likely crossover as
permanent dwelling houses for space residents.
For space habitats, one is invited to fast forward 20 years. Advanced technology at this
time will be putting families into space habitats to augment the dwindling housing
resource here on Earth. Sizeable population growth has been met with an increasing
demand for additional housing units and raw materials since the bounties of the Earth can
no longer sustain the growing needs of the population.
There have been several space habitat designs presented by NASA. One of the most
popular is the Bernal sphere that was proposed in 1929 by John Desmond Bernal, which
was originally designed as a hollow spherical shell, 16-kilometer in diameter and can
hold approximately 20,000 people. Another proposal is the Stanford Torus that sported a
donut-shaped ring design; 1.6-kilometer in diameter and can accommodate around 10,000
people. Each of the designs presented used different methods of sustaining a livable
environment.
Visionaries who dreamt of space hotels that could support a flourishing space tourism
industry are now rolling their eyes at the pessimists who conceived the idea as
preposterous. Orbital tourism including space hotels are probably the most anticipated
industries emerging today.
This is due to the fact that most people want to experience what astronauts describe as a
vision of Earth from space, weightlessness and spacewalks among others. Information
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and pictures in books, magazines, movies and the Internet influences this desire which is
deemed as an advantage for the space tourism industry since further explanation and
marketing of this concept need not be pursued aggressively.

www.space-tourism.ws

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 Introduction - What is Space Tourism?
Space Tourism is the term that's come to be used to mean ordinary members of the public
buying tickets to travel to space and back. Many people find this idea futuristic. But over
the past few years a growing volume of professional work has been done on the subject,
and it's now clear that setting up commercial space tourism services is a realistic target
for business today.
The first steps will just be short sub-orbital flights, like Alan Shepard made in 1961,
since these are easier than getting to orbit. But the technical know-how to make
passenger launch vehicles and orbiting hotel accommodation is available, and there is
enormous unsatisfied demand - market research has revealed that most people, at least in
the industrialized countries, would like to take a trip to space if it was possible. This
gives huge scope for reducing the cost of space travel by large-scale operation like
airlines.
The main obstacle is simply the conservatism of the space industry as it is today. Since
Sputnik was launched in 1957 most space activities have been funded by governments.
And this "cold war" pattern of space activities has created an image of space that colours
everyones' thinking about it - writers, journalists, politicians, scientists and engineers,
and the general public. Even science fiction writers assume as obvious that most space
activities will always be government activities.
As on Earth, so in Space
On Earth governments provide a number of services, defence, police, a legal system. But
most activities are private - done by individuals and companies. Well, it's going to be the
same in space. The Cold War is now over, and space agencies' budgets are being cut.
True, so far, instead of using their huge funding to try to develop a profitable business
like space tourism, the agencies are continuing the same activities - even though
taxpayers aren't so interested any more.
However, the general public are very interested in traveling to space for themselves. So
after some false starts in the 1950s, 60s and 80s, work towards realizing space tourism is
finally starting to gather some momentum (see the timeline).

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And the reasons why it is going to happen this time include:

• Because people want it

• Because it's a realistic objective
• Because it's the only way in which space activities can become profitable
• Because it's the quickest way to start to use the limitless resources of space to
solve our problems on Earth
• Because living in space involves every line of business, from construction to
marketing, fashion, interior-design and law
• And not least,
• Because it will be fun!

Please note, developing low-cost passenger launch vehicles is not just to create a pastime
for the rich. In business, the companies that make big money are the ones that serve big
markets. Like tourism on Earth, there will be a small expensive segment for the rich - but
the great majority of space tourists will be middle-class customers - the greater majority
of us.
But utilizing space depends on access. Until access is cheap, we can't make use of the
limitless resources available in space to solve the problems of our ever-more-crowded
Earth. But once access is cheap then we can. And to make it cheap we need large
turnover. Tourism can generate the large-scale launch activity needed to reduce costs
sufficiently to start to use space resources - and so it's one of the most important projects
in the world today.
That is, commercial space activities today include satellites being used for
communications, broadcasting and photography (remote sensing). But these are small
businesses - no more than a few $billions per year - that will never need humans in space.
So "commercial space activities" today are not leading towards space tourism.
Consequently specific efforts need to be made to set up space tourism services, because
they won't happen as a natural consequence of present-day space activities.
Some people say "Developing space tourism is very difficult, so it'll take a long time.

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Leave it to the government space agencies." But the agencies already spend $25 billion
per year on "space activities" - and they are not trying to develop launch vehicles that
could open space up to the public. Barely 2% of their budgets are used for this purpose -
although even just one year of their huge funding would be plenty!
So Space Future is playing its part by collecting all the work that is going on, and making
it accessible, to help people to understand that this is the way to the space age.

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 Phases of Space Tourism
Like any other business, once space tourism gets started it will develop progressively. It
can be helpful to think of it as going through several phases. Starting with a relatively
small-scale and relatively high-priced "pioneering phase", the scale of activity will grow
and prices will fall as it matures. Finally it will become a mass-market business.

Pioneering phase
The phrase "space adventure travel" has been suggested by Gordon Woodcock of
Boeing, and is a convenient one to describe the first phase. Customers will be relatively
few - from hundreds per year to thousands per year; prices will be high, $50,000 and up;
and the service will be nearer to "adventure travel" than to luxury hotel-style. Orbital
accommodation will be safe but "spartan".

Mature phase
This will see demand growing from thousands of passengers per year to hundreds of
thousands per year. Tickets to orbit will cost less and flights will depart from many
different airports. Orbital facilities will grow from being just clusters of pre-fabricated
modules to large structures constructed in orbit for hundreds of guests, permitting a range
of orbital entertainments.

Mass phase
Ticket prices will fall to the equivalent of a few $ thousand, and customers will from
hundreds of thousands to millions of passengers per year. Apparently unthinkable to
most people in the space industry, even 1 million passengers per year is just 8 hours of
aviation! And aviation is still growing fast at today's level of 1 billion passengers per
year. So there's no reason to suppose that space travel will ever stop growing. There's
certainly no limit to the possible destinations. And the access to space resources that low
cost launch will bring about will ensure that economic growth needn't end for a few more
millenia at least!
Space tourism is an idea whose time has come. It's going to start soon, and it's going to
grow rapidly, generating the funds needed to open up space to a wide range of human
activities.

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 How to get to Space
Many people still think that to get the chance to go to space you've got to try to be an
astronaut. Unfortunately, the chance of getting to be a government astronaut is tiny,
simply because there are so few - and there's no prospect of a lot more being employed.
Save for a ticket
However, don't despair. Far more people will go to space as visitors. So for anyone, the
main, first thing you can do to get to go to space is to save. Estimates of how low the
price of a return flight to low Earth orbit will get vary. The target of the Space Tourism
Study Program of the Japanese Rocket Society is to bring the price down to about 1
million yen (about L7,000 or US$10,000), on a turnover of about 1 million passengers
per year. However, the demand is expected to be so strong that in the early stages prices
will be considerably higher - perhaps 5 million yen ($50,000). As the number of vehicles
grows, the number of flights will increase, and prices will fall to 2 million yen over 5-10
years, and then to Y1 million if possible.
Many people in the "space industry" find the idea of 1 million people per year going to
space almost inconceivable. Yet people in aviation find such a figure almost
inconceivably small - less than 1/1000 of the 1 billion passengers carried on scheduled
flights each year - that is, just 8 hours of scheduled flights around the world! So it's
clearly not an unrealistic target!
So if you want to have $10,000-20,000 (Y1-2 million) in 10 - 20 years, you need to save
$1,000 (Y100,000) a year, give or take. Better would be to save $100/month
(Y10,000/month). That way, the longer it takes companies to get services up and
running, the more money you'll have ready to pay! But remember, that's got to be
separate from your other savings - because you are going to use it!
Get a job in space
In order to stay longer in space, you can work in one of the businesses that will set up in
orbit. There will of course be opportunities in manufacturing - aerospace vehicle makers,
space line operators, orbital construction, electric power, extra-terrestrial mining,
chemical engineering and other fields. So you can study, and make the right career
moves to be well-placed for these.
But for the foreseeable future the hotel business will probably employ as many people in
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space as all these other industries put together. Note, just like hotels on Earth, the day-to-
day work won't be particularly well-paid. But it will be in space, which will have its own
rewards!

Space Tourism Market Study

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Suborbital space travel is a promising market — survey report for suborbital space
travel projects that by 2021, over 15,000 passengers could be flying annually,
representing revenues in excess of US$700 million.
Public Space Travel — the Current Picture
Tourists desiring unique, challenging, and fun experiences drive demand
for public space travel. This desire is currently fueling a worldwide tourism
industry with receipts in excess of US$450 billion. Given the generous revenues
associated with tourism, public space travel represents a huge potential market. It
is only potentially large, however, because the technical ability to service this
market is currently very limited. Two distinct services are currently envisioned for
public space travel: travel to low Earth orbit or orbital flights, and short excursions
beyond Earth's atmosphere and back, or suborbital flights. Each of these markets
are in different stages of development and execution. Public space travel became a
reality in April 2001 when American businessman Dennis Tito paid US$20
million to fly to space. Tito was launched on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which
docked with the International Space Station (ISS) during the mission. Tito spent
eight days in space, six of which he spent inside the ISS. While most public
attention on space tourism has focused on orbital flights, suborbital space tourism
holds significant promise. Space Adventures, the space tourism agency that
contracted Dennis Tito's orbital flight, currently claims to have 100 reservations
for suborbital flights at a price of US$98,000 each. While there are currently no
vehicles that can serve the suborbital space tourism market, a number of vehicles
are under development.
Understanding the Current Demand for Space Travel
The goal of the survey was to objectively answer the most important
questions facing the public space travel business:

• · What is the size of the market?

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 • · What is the growth potential of the market? and
• · What are the customer characteristics for this market?

Although space travel has many positive aspects, it is also fraught with realities
that may limit the size of the potential market. A fundamental weakness of many
previous surveys on the space tourism market is that they presented a future-
oriented picture of public space travel centered on a luxurious and exciting
adventure. three major restrictions that have generally been overlooked in the past
were given a strong review.
Fitness: Space travel is not for everyone. The stresses of launch and reentry, the
effects of exposure to micro gravity, and confinement inside a relatively small
vehicle can challenge the health of even the fittest individual. As a result, the first
step in qualifying for an orbital flight involves intense medical testing — both
physical and psychological. Tourists traveling to orbit are held to the same
standards as professional astronauts and cosmonauts.
Training Time: In addition to physical and mental fitness, potential travelers must
also spend a significant amount of time completing the requisite training for the
trip. Currently, all orbital candidates must undergo six months of training to be
fully prepared for an orbital trip.
Expense: One of the most important points of realism that has not been addressed
in previous studies remains the most limiting factor of all — the price. Research
indicates that the price for orbital space travel is not likely to drop below US$5
million over the 20-year forecast period, with the current price of US$20 million
remaining in place for several years.

Willingness to pay for suborbital space travel

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Current ticket prices for suborbital space travel however around US$100,000.
However, it is unclear how the ticket price may vary once regular commercial
operation of suborbital service commences. The survey asked respondents about
their willingness to pay ticket prices within the range mentioned above beginning
with the highest price. Once an individual replied to a price, they were not asked
any other price points for that scenario as it was assumed they would be willing to
pay a lower price. Of the price points offered, sixteen percent of respondents
immediately accepted the maximum ticket price of US$250,000 to travel on a
suborbital flight.

Willingness to pay for suborbital

travel

60

50

40
percentage

30

20

10

0
$250 $200 $150 $100 $50 $25
US$ Thousands

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As expected with most goods and services, interest in taking a suborbital
flight increased as the price decreased. Just over 50 percent of the survey pool
expressed their willingness to pay one of the ticket prices presented in the range
mentioned above.
Potential future changes for suborbital travel
Although price is often the greatest factor affecting demand for a service, some
questions on non price related scenario changes that could possibly affect the
demand for suborbital travel in the future. For example, over the 20-year forecast
period, the training process will likely be streamlined and a second generation of
suborbital vehicles could be developed that will offer the opportunity for
passengers to better experience micro-gravity during flight.
Reasons for space travel
In order to gain additional insight, respondents were asked to identify
the most important reasons as to why they would have an interest in traveling to
space.
Pioneer 24%
See Earth from space 15%
Lifelong dream 9%
Space enthusiasm 7%
Other 25%
Not interested 20%

Although responses varied greatly, the most important reason that gathered the
largest percentage of responses was the opportunity to be a pioneer or to do
something that only a few have done before. The ability to view Earth from space
was rated as the most important reason for traveling into space by fifteen percent
of respondents. Twenty percent had no interest in space travel at all.

Space Hotels
From Market Research we know that most people would like to stay in orbit for a few
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days or more. And this stands to reason, if you're paying $20,000 for your trip to orbit!
So in order for space tourism to reach its full potential there's going to be a need for
orbital accommodation - or space hotels. These will grow through phases, starting with
'lodges' for up to about 100 guests, growing to true hotels of several hundred guests, and
eventually to orbiting "theme parks" for many thousands of guests.
Getting There is Half the Fun
But what would a space hotel actually be like to visit? Hotels in orbit will offer the
services you expect from a hotel - private rooms, meals, bars. But they'll also offer two
unique experiences: stupendous views - of Earth and space - and the endless
entertainment of living in zero-G - including sports and other activities that make use of
this. And there are further possibilities such as space-walking.
So a trip to a hotel will start with launch to orbit, which takes about 5 minutes of powered
acceleration, followed by up to a few hours of weightlessness approaching the hotel
(depending on the flight schedule). Docking will be rather like an airliner parking at an
airport - but you'll leave the cabin floating in zero-G along the access tube, holding on to
a cable with your hands!
Types of Space Hotel
The hotels themselves will vary greatly - from being quite spartan in the early days, to
huge luxury structures at a later date. It's actually surprising that as late as 1997 very few
designs for space hotels have ever been published. (cf Shimizu , Ehricke , WATG) This
is mainly because those who might be expected to design them haven't expected launch
costs to come down far enough to make them possible.
Luckily it's easy to design basic accommodation in orbit -because it was already done in
1973 with the "Skylab" space station. Minimal living facilities require a cylindrical
module with air-conditioning, some windows, and a kitchen and bathroom. But zero
gravity allows you to build almost any shape and size, in almost any direction. So
exploiting the full range of possibilities of zero gravity architecture will keep designers
happy for decades! There'll also be rotating structures giving artificial gravity.
Getting Around
Lots of people who've been to space have described in detail what it's like to live in zero
gravity. Of course, no-one has yet lived in a rotating space station like the "2001" space
station. Such designs will probably be used, but building such a rotating structure will be
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a significant step beyond just attaching some modules together. It has the advantage of
providing accommodation at different levels of artificial gravity, but with some important
caveats as discussed by Dr. Theodore Hall.
The key to moving in zero-G is to think of your center of mass - which is just behind
your belly-button. Any time you push against someone or bump something, if the line of
that push doesn't go through your belly-button, then it tends to set you rotating around
your belly button! So to move in a certain direction you have to be sure to push in a line
that goes through your belly-button (if you see what that means!)
At first, the key is just to move slowly and simply, so you have time to think what you're
doing. But as you get the hang of it you'll find it enjoyable to push off from a wall with
just the right rotation rate to land on your feet on the opposite wall. And then faster and
faster! There are obviously all sorts of possibilities for dancing, gymnastics and zero G
sports!
Luckily you don't need to sleep much living in zero gravity, so you'll have plenty of time
for relaxing by hanging out (literally!) in a bar with a panoramic window looking down at
the turning Earth below, or sitting in a darkened astronomical viewing room listening to a
guide explain the sights you can see through the binoculars available, or discoing in zero
G, or...
All Good Things...
Of course all good things have to come to an end, unfortunately! And so after a few days
you'll find yourself heading back through the docking point to the returning vehicle -
though you'll be much more expert at manoeuvring in zero G than you were when you
arrived! You'll be thinking how soon you can save up enough to get back up again - or
maybe you should change jobs to get to work in an orbiting hotel!

Activities in Space
"What is there to do in orbit?" Or, as some of the "real" space industry guys have said
"Why would anyone want to go to orbit? There's nothing there - no air, no shops - it's just
cold, dark nothing" (except when it's scorching bright nothing, as it were.....)
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Amazing, isn't it? These guys are in charge of the greatest fun-fair ride in the solar system
- and they can't even see it! Luckily most people are much smarter than this, and know
that space is a playground of unique things to do, that are impossible on Earth. To keep it
simple we can say that the fun of living in orbit boils down to two main ideas - the view,
and zero gravity. That sounds a bit limited, so let's look at each in turn.
Yes - It's Round!
In questionnaires, the first thing that most people say they want to do in orbit is to look at
the Earth. That's because it's a very beautiful sight. "The Earth is blue" Gagarin said.
"Earth is the planet of sea and clouds" Akiyama said. And the view at any time certainly
depends on the local weather below you, but it's continually changing as you go right
round the Earth every 90 minutes or so. And provided you're in a high inclination orbit
(that is one which is at a large angle to the equator, and so goes over places at high
latitudes) then you get to see most of the Earth as it rotates below you.
The sights are pretty well limitless, from the extremes of nature - deserts and mountains,
jungles and plains, ice-pack and whirling storms - to the night-time view of the human-
made world - cities, oil-field gas-flares and fishing-fleets. There are also interesting
natural views at night too - parts of the globe flicker continually with lightning storms,
and you may be lucky enough to see a volcano, forest fire or the aurora: seen from above,
it's said to be like floating through giant fronds of light.
Looking out from Earth is also spectacular. According to those who have been to orbit,
the stars don't twinkle in space (because there's no atmosphere between you and them) -
they're much brighter and "closer", and their colours are clearer. And we mustn't forget
that everyone who's been to space so far has been busy, with limited time to spend
looking out of the windows. And their windows weren't designed for gazing - yet they
still say that the view is amazing.
So imagine a picture window, say, 1 meter across, and you and some friends are lounging
in front of it, with drinks in your hands, and just passing the time with this view rolling
by in front of you. And you can float round the window in any direction and you can look
east, west, north or south and see the stars beyond the Earth's rim... Somewhat better than
looking at a picture book.
Evolution in Action

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But to get the full flavour of what it will feel like to look down at the Earth from a
panoramic window in a hotel lounge - or in a space-suit outside - you have to stand back
and look at the present stage of human history in its cosmic background and think of its
significance. We humans have evolved on this tiny little planet literally out on the rim of
"our" galaxy. It's taken the Earth about 5 billion years, and most of the time this evolution
was pretty leisurely. For example, for about a billion years there were just slimy things,
and then another billion years or so of fishes, plants and creepy-crawly things. Then once
things got moving on the land the dinosaurs were crashing around the place for 150
million years before a huge chunk of rock smashed into the Earth, plunged the place into
a freezing night, and wiped them out (scientists are still arguing about the details).
That gave some little tree-living mammals their big chance - and they took it, growing
into a whole range of new species, including apes - small, nifty animals which were
clever with their hands. Then about 60 million years later a bunch of apes living on the
north coast of Africa took to eating shell-fish and swimming a good deal of the time. Like
other swamp-living monkeys are doing today, they learned to walk upright. And like a
number of other mammals that had taken to the sea before them these monkeys also
learned to control their breathing - and then finally to talk.
This mixture was a considerable success! And these walking talking monkeys gradually
spread throughout Africa, and then out to Europe and Asia, and then to every possible
living place in the entire world - from sweltering jungles to the northern ice-pack, from
mountains to marshes, from deserts to the tiniest Pacific islands. Compared to the earlier
rate of evolution on Earth, it took them no time at all to discover agriculture and then
engineering - enabling them to travel over the seas and through the atmosphere, and to
talk and see each other wherever they were.
Call us what you like - the talking animal, the "conscious" animal, the property-owning
animal - we're also certainly the animal that spreads out. And now we've reached the next
stage, and we're moving on again - just because there's nowhere new left to go on Earth.
And this time, the new place we're going to is one zillion times bigger than the whole of
the Earth, and we're just on the absolute threshold of literally exploding out through the
galaxy.
That’s what makes looking down at the Earth and out towards space so riveting. We're
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looking down on the cradle of this amazing life-form that we are, spinning in the midst of
infinite space, and looking out at the galaxy where our descendants are going to spread
and have adventures that we can only faintly guess at today. Even for those who don't
feel the urge to go on and out themselves, there's a deep fascination in just looking out at
it.
Throughout human history there have been those who've stayed behind, and those who've
moved on. And it's "horses for courses" - many, if not most people will stay on the Earth
- but some of the human race are going to move on. And you only have to look briefly at
human history to see the dynamic economic and cultural effects that discovering new
territories also has for the people who stay behind - and who finance the pioneers, among
other things! The Roman empire, the British empire, the New World all greatly enriched
not only the pioneers, but also the existing economic centers of the day. It's going to be
the same again - just as soon as some big business can get started in space to pay back the
investment. And that day is surprisingly close now.
Zero Gravity
Being, living in zero gravity is a new world - literally. Ordinary activities, even just
moving around, are all transformed in weightlessness. Simply floating slowly around lets
you play all sorts of games - like trying to float precisely across the room and pick
something up without bumping into anything else. The 9 US astronauts who lived (in
teams of 3) on board the first US space station, Skylab (which was much more spacious
than either the Space Shuttle or Mir ) back in 1973-4 said that they couldn't resist making
acrobatic movements, somersaults, spins and so on, whenever they had to move some
distance, seeing if they could spin and still land right on their feet - kind of like an
Olympic gymnast, but at low speed!
You'll be able to practice in your own room, and going along the corridors - there're
going to be some collisions, I guess (maybe there'll have to be speed limits) and in
dedicated zero-gravity play-rooms. Once hotels get started they're surely going to add
more and more, larger and larger chambers to them because guests will find them more
and more entertaining as the possibilities increase . And once these rooms get to be 10 or
20 meters in diameter you can start playing sports.
Water, Water, Everywhere.
Quite different from moving around, there's playing with things in zero gravity. Even on
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just a small scale, playing with water is fun... Squeeze a few blobs out of a bottle and
they form little spheres, which you can line up and move around in mid-air in front of
you just by blowing them. Or you can add colours to them, or blow air into one with a
straw and make it swell up like a balloon. Or set one spinning so it forms a "rope" of
water..... Again, the guys (no women back in those days) who lived in Skylab had fun
with this, as well described in " A House in Space".
Actually you'll probably find yourself playing with water - or other liquids -
inadvertently, when you spill your drink in a bar or with a meal! Luckily it's easier to
wipe up than on Earth where it quickly hits the floor - you can just catch it in mid-air
with a tissue or handkerchief. But don't let it hit anyone else! Incidentally, some Russian
guys have said they seriously dislike bits of other peoples' food coming near them. But
children are surely going to enjoy playing with food - imagine setting a grape floating
across the room to land in a friend's drink... There will have to be dining rooms without
children in!
In a zero-g swimming pool there is no deep end!
Playing with water on a larger scale will be fun too - like a "water room" in which
(wearing bathing suits!) people can throw large blobs of water at each other.
A Picture Just Isn't the Same
"Great fun - but virtual reality won't kill you" some people say. Don't count on it! Why
are there windows in airliners? It would be much safer to not have them, and just put
screens there. Because customers like windows; they like to see the real world out there
for themselves. Some things are deep human psychology. And the guess that space
tourism is going to be a huge business is based on that - that for many, many people
actually going there and seeing it and doing it for themselves is going to be well worth a
few months' salary - or doing without other holidays for a few years, even. IMAX isn't
going to stop it, and virtual reality isn't going to stop it either, however far it advances.
They're going to help grow the market! The urge to experience for ourselves is enough to
ensure that.
Interestingly, in Japanese science fiction, there's a concept of a "new type" of
consciousness that you develop from living in space; there's even a popular monthly
magazine called "New Type". Trouble is, it's not really clear what exactly it involves.

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You Don't Have To Be Young - But It Helps!
In thinking of what there is to do in space, we shouldn't forget "market segmentation" -
developing different services for different groups in the population - just like travel
agencies do on Earth. For example, the elderly are going to be looking for a quieter
holiday than young people - who might be going up mainly for sports - perhaps for a
competition. The there will be family holidays, astronomical holidays - and talking about
market segmentation, what will lovers do in space? Well that's a whole 'nother story
again! Just like travel on Earth there'll be a whole range of different services and levels,
from the highest-priced luxury mansions to minimum-cost theme-park style holidays.
And sure it'll start expensive - because at least some of the rich have some spirit of
adventure - and they have the money to get there first! But fundamentally it needn't be
very expensive to get to orbit. The Japanese Rocket Society estimates that the price of a
return flight could fall to $20,000 once numbers are up into the hundreds of
thousands/year. And we have to remember that Japan's aerospace experience is far less
than that of the USA, Russia or Europe, so it's likely that it's possible for a good deal less
than that.
Try this: ask your grand-parents about when they were young before World War 2. Ask
them what they thought of flying in aero planes, and whether they thought they would
ever get to fly themselves. Most of them will say "I really wanted to have a flight - but I
never thought I'd get a chance myself". Yet within a generation it became a
commonplace experience - and within just 2 generations 1 billion people now fly every
year - that's 3 million every day!

Space Sports
Once hotel companies start to build and operate orbital accommodation, they're going to
be endlessly improving it, and competing to build more and more exotic facilities. One of
the areas in which they'll compete will be in building zero-G sports centers. Basically, the
bigger these are the more interesting the opportunities they'll provide.

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Zero gravity stadiums
In the first stages they'll be maybe 20 meters across, which will be big enough for zero-G
gymnastics, ballet, and a range of sports - if not football! For example zero-G versions of
existing terrestrial sports, such as table-tennis, badminton, tennis, and even basketball.
As the structures get larger, a wider range of games will become possible, with room for
spectators too. Then, once hotels include substantial rotating sections, ball-games will
have the new feature that the ball will follow a kind of spiraling path, which will literally
add a new dimension to throwing and catching!
Entirely new sports
Once you're thinking about stadium-based sports like football, other new kinds of
possibilities open up, like momentum transfer between team-members and opponents,
giving "launch assistance" to each other, and others.
Another area is water sports. A zero-gravity "water-room" with some large "blobs" of
water which you can throw at each other, or through which you can dive, will provide a
lot of unique entertainment. But there will be a new safety problem to solve. Probably
everyone will be required to wear a mouthpiece for an emergency air supply, because in
zero-G you won't float to the "top" of a blob of water, of course. So if everyone has a few
minutes' air-supply, that may avoid some panic attacks!
And once there are rotating hotels, true rotating swimming pools will get built, in which
you can swim around the interior surface, and then dive out to float in the zero gravity in
the center! Water's heavy, though - 1 ton/cubic meter - so quite a modest pool will
contain 1000 tons of water - which will be a serious investment, even at only $100,000 /
ton launch costs! So those facilities will be part of large orbital complexes.
The game's the same but the rules seem to have changed
And of course entirely new sports will also be invented, that take advantage of zero-G or
artificial gravity. But, for now, we'll leave them to your imaginations!
The big event
As we said above, things will start small, and grow bigger. So holding Olympic games in
an orbiting zero-gravity stadium 100 meters in diameter, for example, is obviously not a
realistic project in the near future. But instead of dismissing it as a ridiculous fantasy - as
many "space industry" people would - consider that:
It's unquestionably technically possible - a student could estimate the structural stresses
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involved.
Its feasibility depends on straightforward business economics, and specifically on the
cost of launch, and the market value of media rights.
It's an interesting question how soon after the beginning of space tourism it will happen -
it will depend mainly on the growth rate of space tourism services.
And while it would be easy to say "Orbital Olympics are at least 50 years away" we
should also remember that when a new service gets really popular, business growth rates
can be spectacular. For example, recently Internet-connectable personal computers and
mobile-telephones have shown fantastic growth rates, with both sales and investment
growing by tens of $billions per year in just a single country! Why shouldn't there be a
global "space tourism boom" on a similar scale? In that case it could lead to spectacular
growth rates. And before space tourism reaches a scale of even 1 million passengers per
year, large-scale sports facilities will certainly be built in orbit - because they'll be good
business investments for hotel companies.
An incentive for business?
For such a boom to happen there are plenty of spare resources - since the end of the cold
war the aerospace industry has had nothing else to do: employment has already shrunk by
millions world-wide; the number of companies has dropped sharply; and it isn't over yet.
There's talk of further reduction in the number of helicopter makers, satellite makers and
launch vehicle makers! So it could be a case of "Light the blue touch-paper - and stand
back!" We look forward to it.

www.world-tourism.org

Space planes

Space planes have been dreamed of for centuries. Leonardo da Vinci (painter of the
renowned Mona Lisa) drew the first concept of a plane that would air-transport people.
Ever since that time, man's imagination is rife with vivid visions not only of regular
planes but also of space planes that are capable of suborbital, orbital and even staying
indefinitely in outer space.

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Considering man's quest for adventure and for space travel, a number of our aircraft
designers are now developing space planes that will serve as vehicles to ferry interested
passenger's or tourists on a trip beyond the Earth's atmosphere.

Unlike the rocket planes, space planes are conveyed by carrier aircraft strapped in the
carrier's underbelly or piggy backed ride and released at altitudes of over 50,000 feet.
And, then the aircraft will then continue its journey using the built-in rocket propellant.
On the trip back to the earth, the space plane operates similarly to a conventional airplane
that can land on its own accord. Apart from that, modern space planes guarantee
passengers or tourists that they can effectively operate both in the atmosphere, during
extended periods at the edge of space and on the Earth's orbit.

Primarily, the only reason hindering full-scale space plane development is the large
funding or investment necessary to finance a project of this magnitude. But, this has
changed since then, due to the advent of space tourism that is expected to be a lucrative
investment after all. Besides, the invention of new technology to support this venture has
undoubtedly elevated the possibility of space tourism to new heights while likewise
reducing the costs related to space plane travel. In view of this recent development,
investors are in a hurried pace to launch the first vehicle into space and get the lion's
share of the emerging industry.

And, with space planes already in our midst, we are therefore closer to achieving our
dreams of space travel. Imagine what it would be like when you can actually travel to and
from space conveniently in a method similar to a cross country flight from a conventional
airport? Definitely, this will be an exhilarating experience. Most likely, this is the reason
why a number of privileged individuals today are willing to spend millions of dollars for
ticket reservation on a flight to outer space even if it means just a couple of hours or
maybe a couple of days in the near future.

Although there are a number of investors pursuing space planes, we cannot expect the
vehicles to be available before 2009 since a lot of tests need to be conducted before said

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vehicles may be declared fit and safe for suborbital travel. The next decade will be
critical for the space tourism industry, particularly with the development of space planes
that will most likely dictate the pace of this new industry.

www.space-tourism.ws

What the Growth of a Space Tourism Industry Could

Contribute to Employment, Economic Growth, Environmental
Protection, Education, Culture and World Peace

EMPLOYMENT
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In most countries, most of the population do not have economically significant land
holdings, and so employment is the economic basis of social life, providing income and
enabling people to have stable family lives. The high level of unemployment in most
countries today is therefore not only wasteful, it also causes widespread poverty and
unhappiness, and is socially damaging, creating further problems for the future. One
reason for investing in the development of passenger space travel, therefore, is that it
could create major new fields of employment, capable of growing as far into the future as
we can see.
The passenger air travel industry, including airlines, airports, hotels and other tourism-
related work enabled by air travel, employs about 20 times the number of people
employed in aircraft manufacturing alone, about 50 million people today. Likewise,
passenger space travel could create employment many times that of expendable launch
vehicles - in vehicle operations and maintenance, at spaceports, in orbiting
accommodation, in many companies supplying these, in services such as staff training,
certification and insurance, and in a growing range of related businesses.
This is important because high unemployment, both in richer and poorer countries, has
been the major economic problem throughout the world for decades. Consequently the
growth of such a major new market for advanced aerospace technology and services is
highly desirable. By contrast, in recent years employment in the traditional space industry
in USA and Europe has been shrinking fast: a 2003 report by the US Federal Aviation
Administration stated that employment in launch vehicle manufacturing and services fell
from 28,617 in 1999 to 4,828 in 2002, while employment in satellite manufacturing fell
from 57,372 to 31,262 . Likewise, European space industry employment fell by 20% from
1995 to 2005; the major space engineering company Astrium cut 3,300 staff from 2003
through 2006; and in 2005 alone, European prime contractors cut 13.5% of their staff or
some 2,400 people . Unfortunately, the probability of space industry employment
recovering soon is low, because satellite manufacturing and launch services face both low
demand and rapidly growing competition from India and China where costs are
significantly lower.
It is therefore positively bizarre that government policy makers have declined to even
discuss the subject of investing in the development of passenger space travel services, and
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have permitted no significant investment to date out of the nearly 20 billion Euro-
equivalents which space agencies spend every year! This is despite the very positive 1998
Nasa report "General Public Space Travel and Tourism" , and a 2002 Nasa-funded study
which concluded that sub-orbital travel services in the USA alone might grow several
times larger than the commercial satellite industry .
In the capitalist system, companies compete to reduce costs since this directly increases
their profits. However, reducing the number of employees through improving productivity
raises unemployment, except to the extent that new jobs are created in new and growing
industries. In an economy with a lack of new industries, increasing so-called "economic
efficiency" creates unemployment, which is a social cost. In this situation, under
governments concerned for public welfare, either the rate of creation of new industries
must be increased, and/or the reduction of jobs should be slowed, at least until the growth
of new industries revives, or other desirable social arrangements are introduced. These
include more leisure time, job-sharing, and other policies designed to prevent the growth
of a permanent "under-class" of unemployed and "working poor" – a development which
would pose a major threat to western civilization.
One of the many ill effects of high unemployment is that it weakens governments against
pressure from corporate interests. For example, increased restrictions on such activities as
arms exports, unfair trade, environmental damage, corporate tax evasion, business
concentration, advertising targeted at children, and anti-social corporate-drafted
legislation such as the "codex alimentarus" and "tort reform" are socially desirable.
However, when unemployment is high, corporations' arguments that government
intervention would "increase unemployment" have greater influence on governments.
As outlined above, the opening of near-Earth space to large-scale economic development
promises to create millions of jobs, with no obvious limits to future growth. At a time
when high unemployment is the most serious economic problem throughout the world,
developing this family of new industries as fast as possible should be a priority for
employment policy. To continue economic "rationalization" and "globalization" while not
developing space travel is self-contradictory, and is both economically and socially
extremely damaging.
ECONOMIC GROWTH
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The continuation of human civilization requires a growing world economy, with access to
increasing resources. This is because competing groups in society can all improve their
situation and reasonable fairness can be achieved, enabling social ethics to survive, only if
the overall "economic pie" is growing. Unfortunately, societies are much less robust if the
"pie" is shrinking, when ethical growth becomes nearly impossible, as competing groups
try to improve their own situation at the expense of other groups. Continued growth of
civilization requires continual ethical evolution, but this will be possible only if resources
are sufficient to assure comfort, health, education and fair employment for all members of
society.
The world economy is under great stress recently for a number of reasons, a fundamental
one being the lack of opportunities for profitable investment - as exemplified by Japan's
unprecedented decade of zero interest-rates. This lack of productive investment
opportunities has led a large amount of funds in the rich countries to "churn" around in
the world economy, causing ever greater financial instability, thereby further harming
economic growth and widening the gap between rich and poor.
Increasing the opportunities for profitable, stable investment requires continual creation
of new industries. Governments today typically express expectations for employment
growth in such fields as information technology, energy, robotics, medical services,
tourism and leisure. However, there are also sceptical voices pointing out that many of
these activities too are already being outsourced to low-cost countries. Most of the net
new jobs created in the USA during the 21st century so far have been low-paid service
work, while the number of US manufacturing jobs has shrunk rapidly . The decades-long
delay in developing space travel has contributed greatly to this lack of new industries.
The rapid economic development of China and India offers great promise, but creates a
serious challenge for the already rich countries which need to accelerate the growth of
new industries if they are to benefit from these countries' lower costs without creating an
impoverished underclass in their own societies - the long-term cost of which would
greatly outweigh the short-term benefits of low-cost imports. The development of India
and China also creates dangers because the demands of 6 billion people are now
approaching the limits of the resources of planet Earth. As these limits are approached,
governments become increasingly repressive, thereby adding major social costs to the
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direct costs of environmental damage . Consequently the decades-long delay in starting to
use the resources of the solar system has caused heavy, self-inflicted damage to our
economic development, and must be urgently overcome .
Popular Demand is the Basis of Economic Growth
The continuing heavy dependence of the space industry on taxpayer funding, despite
cumulative investment to date of some 1 trillion Euro-equivalents, is due to the simple
fact that those directing the industry have chosen not to supply services which large
numbers of the general public wish to buy. Yet it is elementary that only by doing this can
the space industry grow into a normal commercial activity. Doing this will create a new
industry which raises private investment to develop newer and larger facilities in order to
sell better services to more customers - in the familiar "virtuous circle" of business
growth. Eventually this activity may even reach a scale sufficient to repay the public
investment to date.
In successful companies, investment is skillfully judged so as to produce goods and
services for which there will be large commercial (i.e. non-governmental) demand. If this
earns sufficient profits, then the activity will continue to grow spontaneously for decades
or more, like manufacturing of cars or airliners. If, instead, funds intended for investment
are spent on developing non-commercial products, such as surveillance satellites or a
space station for which the only significant customer is government, then clearly the
space industry is doomed to remain forever a small, taxpayer-funded activity - a
hindrance rather than a help to economic growth.
Economic policy makers responsible for deciding the public budget for space
development must no longer rely on the advice of the space industry itself, which ever
since its origin has had different objectives than the economic benefit of the general
public. That is, economic policy makers, who are responsible for trillions of Euros of
activity, must take the initiative and fund the development of passenger space travel
systems as soon as possible - a policy level well above what is called "space policy",
which is responsible for less than 1% of this. Among other steps, this will require the
important institutional innovation of collaboration between civil aviation and civil space
activities. Since, even with today's knowledge, researchers foresee the possibility of
economic development in space growing to a scale similar to terrestrial industry , it must
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be considered as having the potential to become a major new axis for economic growth -
but with minimal environmental impact, as discussed below - and therefore deserving of
the most serious and urgent attention by economic policy makers.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
Economic development in space based on low launch costs could contribute greatly, even
definitively, to solving world environmental problems. As a first step, substantially
reducing the cost of space travel will reduce the cost of environment-monitoring satellites,
improving climate research and environmental policy making.
Space-based Solar Power Supply
A second possibility, which has been researched for several decades but has not yet
received a budget to enable testing in orbit, is the delivery of continuous solar-generated
power from space to Earth. Researchers believe that such space-based solar power ( SSP)
could supply clean, low-cost energy on a large scale, which is a prerequisite for economic
development of poorer countries while avoiding damaging pollution and climate change.
However, realization of SSP requires much lower launch costs, which only passenger
space travel could achieve. Hence the development of orbital tourism could provide the
key to realizing SSP economically.
Carbon-neutral Space Travel
Clean energy produced by SSP could eliminate the environmental impact of space travel,
and even make it "carbon neutral" if this is considered desirable . Moreover, SSP has a
much shorter energy pay-back time than terrestrial solar energy, due to the almost
continuous supply of power which it can generate, rather than only in day-time during
clear weather. Some critics claim that sub-orbital space travel will become a significant
environmental burden . However, while superficially correct in the short term, this is the
opposite of the truth over the longer term. It would be a dangerous error to prevent the
growth of space tourism in order to avoid its initial, minor environmental impact, since
this would prevent a range of major benefits in the future, including the supply of low-
cost, carbon-neutral SSP, and other space-based industry.
Space-based Industry
If orbital travel grows to a scale of millions of passengers/year - as it could by the 2030s,
with vigorous investment - it will stimulate the spontaneous growth of numerous
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businesses in space. These will grow progressively from simple activities such as
maintenance of orbiting hotels, to industrial use of asteroidal minerals. For example, the
development of SSP would lead to a range of industrial processes using the advantages of
space, including low-cost electricity, high vacuum, weightlessness and minerals in
shallow gravitational wells.
If SSP grows to supply a significant share of the terrestrial energy market, more and more
industry would operate outside the Earth's ecological system. While most industries cause
growing damage to the Earth's environment as they grow in scale, industrial activities
which are outside the Earth's ecosystem need not cause any such damage. Hence the
growth of space-based industry to large scale offers the longer-term possibility of
decoupling economic growth from the limits of the terrestrial environment. Indeed, it has
been argued that only the use of space resources, including especially SSP, offers the
possibility of protecting the Earth’s environment while enabling sufficient economic
growth to preserve civilized society .
Global Cooling
As a measure of the uncertainty about climate change there is a significant group of
climatologists who, while acknowledging the physical mechanism of the "greenhouse
effect", argue that it is outweighed by other natural influences, including the global
cooling trend which is heading towards the next Ice Age . With a period of tens of
thousands of years, the last Ice Age saw much of Northern Europe covered by ice 1
kilometer deep!
In the face of such a threat, it is notable that SSP satellites with area of tens of square
kilometers, whether transmitting microwave power or sunlight reflected with large
orbiting mirrors, could uniquely help to counteract Ice Age cooling by melting snow and
ice over large areas. This could prevent the vicious circle of accelerating cooling due to
increased reflection of sunlight from snow-covered areas . Direct weather modification is
a new field with many uncertainties, but it may be the only way to prevent the destruction
of civilization by the next Ice Age. Thus, from the point of view of risk management, it is
a major attraction of SSP that it could help to mitigate climate change, whether due to
global warming, as CO2-free electric power supply, or global cooling, by directly
warming the Earth’s surface.
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Ethical Consumption
Passenger space travel and its numerous spin-off activities have the important potential to
escape the limitations of the "consumerism" which governments in the rich countries have
encouraged in recent decades in order to stimulate economic growth, defined as GDP.
This is resulting in "excess consumption" which causes unnecessary environmental
damage , while reducing rather than increasing public satisfaction . "First world" citizens
are increasingly trapped in a culturally impoverished "consumer" lifestyle which reduces
social capital, social cohesion and happiness. By contrast, expenditure on the unique
experience of space travel promises to play a more positive role in the economy and
society, enriching customers culturally without requiring mass production of consumer
goods.
EDUCATION
The educational value of space activities is well known: children and young people find
the subject of space and space travel uniquely fascinating. A number of space-based,
science-fiction films and television series have achieved extraordinary popularity,
extending over decades. As a result, various organizations have created space-related
educational programmes involving satellite design, small rockets and simulation of space
flights. Unfortunately, while these activities are popular with the participants, it has to be
recognized that they are not effective in increasing young people's scientific education
overall, which continues to decline in most countries. That is, children who enjoy science
classes find satellite projects inspiring, but these classes do not prevent the "flight from
science" seen in rich countries, which is so dangerous for the successful continuation of
civilization.
However, the possibility of being able to travel to space oneself is of much greater interest
to young people than watching videos of other people traveling to space, or than
simulating traveling to space. Hence the start of low-cost passenger space travel services
holds unique promise for education in fields related to space travel. In particular, the
expectation that the price of a sub-orbital flight could fall as low as 5,000 Euros , as the
service grows to millions of passengers/year offers the possibility of almost all children
being able to take a flight sometime. This possibility can be used as a uniquely
stimulating teaching tool. In addition, the scenario shown in Figure 1 will employ tens of
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thousands of staff in orbit – a uniquely exciting goal for young people.
CULTURE
The history and artefacts of the European Renaissance are still the subject of world-wide
admiration today. One reason for this unique flowering - such as in 14th century to 16th
century Firenze - was that there was a social ethic whereby the successful and wealthy
had a sufficiently strong sense of civic duty that they used part of their wealth to enrich
the community, particularly by building inspiring civic spaces - libraries, galleries, palazzi
and other buildings - and by commissioning works of art and scholarship, with results
which still inspire us 600 years later . Such an ethic requires that those who are materially
successful, however "self-made" and praiseworthy they may be, recognize that they are
also all beneficiaries of good fortune - to have been born in a country, an era, a locale, and
a family in which they have opportunities to learn language and manners, to accumulate
formative experiences, to obtain useful knowledge, and then opportunities to exercise
their talents and grow into a great career. In a successful society, people who are blessed
with such good fortune accept that they have a social duty to repay this - by creating a
similarly nurturing environment for future generations. The enduring popularity of the
achievements of the Renaissance surely illustrates the enormous value of such an ethical
sense in society.
Need for a New Worldwide Renaissance
By contrast, as societies became richer over the following centuries, they were
increasingly disfigured by becoming more materialistic, a trend accompanied by more and
more brutal and destructive wars, including the horrific "world wars" and communist
revolutions. This trend has continued with the recent shocking decline in ethics of the US
and UK governments openly flouting national and international law - and even the
Geneva Conventions, once seen as a bulwark of European civilization (by making war
less inhumane through banning torture and the killing of civilians).
The way of thinking of Renaissance leaders is strikingly different from today when the
wealthy are encouraged to follow the rubric: "If you've got it, flaunt it", or appear to
follow the frankly psychopathic: "Everything for us - and nothing for anyone else." The
futility of such an attitude is well-known throughout the ages, as expressed in such
sayings as: "You cannot take it with you when you die," or "There are no pockets in a
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shroud". The great universalist religions of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam are in
agreement that material wealth is transient and acquisitiveness is not the path to
happiness: to the contrary, having gratitude for good fortune, and making efforts to help
others less fortunate than oneself are extolled. The reason why these teachings have lasted
for millenia is because they help people to live satisfying lives, to raise healthy children,
and to maintain stable, resilient societies. They are the basis of humane culture and true
civilization.
Thus it is clear that, while societies have grown far richer since the Renaissance, the way
of thinking of the rich today is far poorer. Despite almost unlimited opportunities for
creativity and cultural contribution, most of the rich today leave behind little or nothing
worth remembering. At best they typically use their money to buy large numbers of
possessions, which are redistributed on their death. Of course many people, including the
wealthy, give to charitable organizations, many of which do very good work. However,
much of this work does little more than offset some of the worst effects of the policies
followed by the rich countries which widen the gap between rich and poor world-wide.
We can judge this behaviour: the great benefactors of the Renaissance were more
admirable human beings. Unless corrected soon, this futile materialism will destroy
civilization. Yet under "neo-liberal" or "neo-con" dogma, instead of using the opportunity
provided by wealth to contribute culturally to society, the already rich exert pressure on
governments to reduce their taxes further, to remove remaining restraints on monopolies
and illegal surveillance of the general public, while falsely blaming already deteriorating
welfare systems for government's fiscal crisis. The lack of new industries described above
weakens governments against such pressures. Such psychopathic greed and dishonesty
among the upper levels of a society are the prelude to its destruction, and represent the
most serious challenge to western civilization.
"The Earth is Not Sick – She’s Pregnant"
Healthy societies can revitalize themselves. An interesting explanation of the potential of
space travel and its offshoots to revitalize human civilization is expressed in the idea that
"The Earth is not sick: she’s pregnant" . Although this idea may seem strange at first
hearing, it is a surprisingly useful analogy for understanding humans' current
predicament. According to the "Pregnant Earth" analogy, the darkening prospect before
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humanity is due to humans' terrestrial civilization being "pregnant" - and indeed
dangerously overdue - with an extra-terrestrial offspring. Once humans' space civilization
is safely born, the current stresses within the mother civilization will be cured, and the
new life may eventually even surpass it's parent. This idea not only illuminates many
aspects of humans' present problems, it also provides detailed directions for how to solve
these problems, and explains convincingly how successfully aiding this birth will lead to a
far better condition than before the pregnancy. A young couple may be happy in each
other's company, but their joy is increased by the birth of children and life with them,
from which many new possibilities arise.
The birth of humans' coming extra-terrestrial civilization will lead to a wide range of
activities outside our planet's precious eco-system. This evolution will solve not only
humans’ material problems, by making the vast resources of near-Earth space accessible,
but it will also help to cure the emptiness of so-called "modern" commercial culture –
including the "dumbing down" by monopolistic media, the falling educational standards,
pacification by television, obesity, ever-growing consumption of alcohol, decline in
public morality, narcotics, pornography, falling social capital, rising divorce rates, and
youths’ lack of challenge and lack of "dreams". It will do this by raising humans' sights to
the stars, and showing that the door to them is unlocked, and has been for decades - we
have only to make a small effort to push it open forever.
Re-opening a true geographical frontier, with all its challenges, will in itself be of
inestimable value for the cultural growth of modern civilization. The widespread sense
that we live in a closed world which is getting more and more crowded will be replaced
by an open-ended, optimistic vision of an unlimited future. Access to the cornucopia of
space resources that await humans' exploitation can clearly make a unique contribution to
this.
To the extent that leaders of major industries are motivated by ambition in business
competition, they will welcome this opportunity to extend their activities to new fields in
the far wider arena of space; to the extent that they are motivated by the attempt to
achieve monopolistic control and profits, they may try to hinder development in space,
even at the cost of preventing its wide benefits, since this will be more profitable to them.
However, implementing the "Pregnant Earth" agenda can stop this cultural regression and
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start a true world-wide Renaissance, an unprecedented flowering of civilization of which
human culture has been in need ever since the inspiration of the Italian Renaissance was
followed by a decline into progressive materialism and war-mongering .
www.world-tourism.org

CONCLUSION

However, space tourism opportunities are quite expensive, to fetch a whooping $30
million per brokered flight. Needless to say, only wealthy people can ever afford to pay
for a space tour. In view of the costs, privileged people recommend the construction of
space hotels so they could enjoy their money's worth and likewise be able to stay in

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beyond the confines of Earth as long as they want. The presence of space hotels would
allow the wealthy to experience what it's like to live in a unique environment.

In the future, after suborbital flights become commonplace, space hotels will become a
reality. Until then, the idea of space hotels remains in suspended animation. One step at a
time, we will get there, though.

Experiencing zero gravity is part of the budding space tourism industry. Prior to blasting-
off to space, critical preparations are now being conducted to acquaint space tourists
about relevant conditions once they are inside the spacecraft. Passengers must be made
ready to deal with zero gravity or weightlessness that they will be subjected to, once they
hit an altitude of over 60 to 80 miles. Traveling to the vast frontier may be exhilarating
though tourists must be physically ready to accept the challenge.

Some of our enterprising businessmen are cashing in on the space tourism craze that is
truly inevitable. To prepare tourists for the space travel, corporations have been given the
go signal by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to conduct zero gravity or
weightless flights for everybody else who needs to experience the sensation of floating in
space.

Floating free in space is the kind of stuff only astronauts are familiar with, while regular
folks can only dream about it because of the limited possibility of one entering the NASA
domain, especially at taxpayer's expense. So, with this new development, others who
would want a first hand experience will just have to book seat and brave the feeling of
zero gravity.

Literally, these zero gravity weightlessness flights have been intended for countless space
tourists who want to establish a healthy response to suborbital and orbital space travel.
The main objective of this corporation is to mimic the excitement and adventure of space
travel that is accessible to the public in a safe, fun and less costly fashion without even
leaving Mother Earth.

www.space-tourism.ws
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 REFRENCES

http://www.space-tourism.ws/reusable-launch-vehicles.htm pg 1-3

http://www.world-tourism.org/market_research/facts&figures/menu.htm. Pg 4-22

http://www.space-tourism.ws/reusable-launch-vehicles.htm pg 23-24

http://www.world-tourism.org/market_research/facts&figures/menu.htm. Pg 25-35

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http://www.space-tourism.ws/reusable-launch-vehicles.htm pg 36-37

AN EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL DEMAND FOR SPACE TOURISM IN

KOLKATA

Space Tourism Survey questions

On a scale of 1 to 5, how important is the development of Space ? (least to most)

1 �
2 �
3 �
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4 �
5 �
Are you aware of the idea for Space Tourism ?
Yes �
No �
If Space Tourism became a reality, would you like to take a trip into Space ?
Yes �
No �
May be �
If not, why?
Risk- �
Unrealistic- �
Too expensive �
Too old- �
Not interested- �
Other �
How many more years do you think it might be before Space Tourism starts ?
0-5 �
6-10 �
11-15 �
16-20 �
Over 20 yrs �
Once in Space, how long would you like to stay there ?
A few hours �
One day (day-trip) �
2 - 3 days �
One week �
Several weeks �

In your lifetime, how many space trips would you like to take ?
One �
A few �
As many as possible �

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To pay for your space trip, how much of your income would you be willing to spend ?
1 months' income �
3 months' income �
1 years income �
3 years income �
More than 3 year's income �
Would you like to learn more about Space Tourism ?
Yes �
No �
Age ?
10-19 �
20-29 �
30-39 �
40-49 �
Gender ?
Male �
Female �

AN EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL DEMAND FOR SPACE TOURISM IN

KOLKATA

Space Tourism Survey Results

On a scale of 1 to 5, how important is the development of Space ? (least to most)

1 �
2 �
3 �

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4 �
5 �
Are you aware of the idea for Space Tourism ?
Yes �
No �
If Space Tourism became a reality, would you like to take a trip into Space ?
Yes �
No �
May be �
If not, why?
Risk- �
Unrealistic- �
Too expensive �
Too old- �
Not interested- �
Other �
How many more years do you think it might be before Space Tourism starts ?
0-5 �
6-10 �
11-15 �
16-20 �
Over 20 yrs �
Once in Space, how long would you like to stay there ?
A few hours �
One day (day-trip) �
2 - 3 days �
One week �
Several weeks �

In your lifetime, how many space trips would you like to take ?
One �
A few �
As many as possible �

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To pay for your space trip, how much of your income would you be willing to spend ?
1 months' income �
3 months' income �
1 years income �
3 years income �
More than 3 year's income �
Would you like to learn more about Space Tourism ?
Yes �
No �
Age ?
10-19 �
20-29 �
30-39 �
40-49 �
Gender ?
Male �
Female �

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