Space Tourism - How, Why & When

[s.e.c.t.o.r.]

Almost everyone will agree that our space program needs a drastic boost. The simple truth is that CONGRESS isn't going to supply that boost and NASA isn't really interested.

That is why I feel that we desperately need a PRIVATE SPACE TOURISM business. Russia, China and Europe are already working on this type projects and we are about to get left behind (again). If we do not do something fast we will be knocked out of our position as superior in space.

Solving this problem is simple. Here is how we can do it:

1.) Found a business, with a business plan and a minimal of investments (1 Million).
2.) Promote Space Flights (Approx. an hour in 0G) and Space Vacations (1 Week in 0G on an Orbiting Hotel).
3.) Take advanced orders (receive payment) for these trips at $50,000 for Space Flights and $500,000 for Space Vacations.
4.) Raise enough money from advanced orders to build:
a. Reusable HTHL space plane capable of LEO
b. Orbiting Space Hotel (50-100 person capacity) and place in orbit.
5.) Begin weekly Space Flights and trips to the Orbiting Hotel.
6.) Build second, third, forth space planes with one being designed specifically for ferrying supplies to the Orbiting Hotel.
7.) Lower fare prices for Space Flight to $5,000 and Space Vacations to $50,000
8.) Fly lots of people to Space or the Orbiting Hotel
9.) Lower fares for Space Flights to $1,000 and Space Vacations to $10,000 (affordable for most people).
10.) Start developing new technologies to build other hotels on the Moon, Mars, etc.

[SEDShead]

Boy, this sounds an awful lot like what Space Adventures is already doing (at least up through step 4a), and I'm sure they're well on their way t o the rest of the steps. However, the time between steps 4 and 5 may take a while.

Also, I would think that a 50-100 person space hotel couldn't be built on the ground, it would need to be build in space, much like the space station.

Anyway, to read more about what Space Adventures is doing, check out http://www.spaceadventures.com/


There were a few other companies that were also on this track, but I believe Space Adventures has been the most successful so far, and has bought out the few other companies (Zegrams, Space Voyages, and other names I might be mis-remembering).

[s.e.c.t.o.r.]

You are right Space Adventures is doing this already! However, I am not real sure as to how successful they might be at it. Furthermore, I don't recall reading anywhere about them building a reusable HTHL space plane or building a space hotel.

As to where the space hotel would be built: It would be built on EARTH and then assembled in orbit. It would most likely be a modular design with a bunch of interconnecting bubbles. You would have one large bubble (couple hundred feet in Diameter) that acts as a common area with dining, lounge, bar, theater, etc. Then each guest room would be another bubble that connects to the main bubble. These guest bubbles would be about 20 feet in diameter and would be comparable to a large master-bedroom. You would have docking ports on the top and bottom of the main bubble for the space planes to dock, as well as escape planes (permenantely located) on two sides of the main bubble.

The entire space hotel would then spin about 2-3 revolutions an hour, just enough to simulate near-Earth gravity. Thus making for a relatively comfortable habitat. Each guest room would be equiped with a space port (small window similar to a large ships portholes) situated on the outside facing away from the main bubble. This way the guests would get to view the Earth, Moon and stars as the space hotel rotated....