SpaceX says they are considering the construction of Starships exclusively for space tourism, this comes after a shift in demand since their successful launch of an amateur team into orbit for three days
“The amount of people who are approaching us through our sales and marketing portals has increased significantly,” the company’s senior director of human spaceflight programs, Benji Reed
SpaceX, The low orbit cruise company?
The successful launch on the 15th of September 2021 took Jarad Isaacman, 38, Hayley Arceneaux, 29, Sian Proctor, 51, and finally Chris Sembroski, 42 into orbit for 3 days before splashing down off the Florida coast.
As we all know by now SpaceX has a core mission of forming humanity into a multi-planetary species and it seems like they’re not slowing down either however since the September launch they’ve noticed a huge surge of demand from investors and a wave of citizens online for space tourism, SpaceX has the resources and ability to do so and they believe it would be a good business opportunity. Going forward they will next assess the pros and cons of managing a space tourist attraction which would be in the form of a cruise ship to take paying customers around the planet in low orbit for short periods. If such a thing goes ahead, we can expect it will begin expensive and mellow out into the public market within a decade or so.
Looking forward
An all-inclusive Starship spacecraft with the ability of housing 100 individuals keen on exploring space is a tempting venture for musk and as Crew Dragon has proven to be a reliable way of transporting astronauts to the international space center the only consideration now is purely the logistics of running such a company, while SpaceX has made impressive progress with the development on the Starship and it’s Super Heavy booster, the launch system is far from ready to head up to orbit. A test flight was scheduled for this summer, but approvals and other red tape are making a 2021 launch unlikely if not a baseless hope.
Conclusion
There’s a lot to look forward to in the future and the whole space community waits with anticipation for whatever SpaceX has to offer, it seems that space tourism is on the horizon for everyday people.
Whether SpaceX goes forward with the proposed idea or not there is a huge market just waiting to be supplied with luxury space hotels and resorts for that experience of a lifetime, If SpaceX does not go forward with the idea, it begs the question of who will fill that gap in the market? With more and more people wanting to experience the thrill of space, orbiting the earth in the ultimate experience might be just what we’re looking for, and for now, it seems like there is hope on the horizon for all those adventure seekers, the future is now and waiting for you!