Suborbital Launches Cost $200,000 a Ticket

Space Tourism: once the dream of the future, is a dream no more. The latest and lowest prices from the space tourism industry are still far ahead of the costs of the average vacation packages: but not by as much anymore. In fact, some vacations here on Earth are more pricey: the Emirates Palace in Abu Dhabi and The Leading Hotels of the World both offer $1 million dollar vacation packages (both for only 30 days or less). So when Virgin Galactic began offering their experimental Spaceship Two package to the public at $200,000 it’s no wonder spots on the aircraft were quickly grabbed. What was once a frontier reserved for the wealthy or government employees of NASA, is now being extended to the rest of mankind. The suborbital launches are not “technically” space flight in the sense of leaving the Earth’s gravitational pull completely, but they do break past the clouds and skies and into a world familiar to humans only on the television screen: space. And at a mere $200,000, it’s becoming more and more affordable. We’ll all be waiting for the day it drops below the 6 figure mark, and reaches truly affordable levels. Many companies believe as more people take part and help finance suborbital launches, the technology will become more practical and affordable. Especially if it ever reaches a mass production level.