Space tourism is on the rise, with visitors floating in space becoming a milestone in the industry. In September, the Polaris Dawn mission, lasting five days, took four passengers on multiple orbits around Earth.
A Billionaire’s Venture
This trip was conducted by SpaceX, owned by billionaire Elon Musk, one of the competitors in the market, with the goal of colonizing Mars in the future.
A Step Forward
On October 13, the company took a significant step by landing an uncrewed Starship spacecraft on a launch pad with the help of a super-heavy rocket booster, an unprecedented event. Experts suggest this is crucial because reusable equipment can make travel more affordable.
So far, space tourism has been the domain of the wealthy, with passengers often funding the projects themselves. But just how much does a space trip cost?
Expensive Tickets
According to Reuters, the value of each passenger for the Polaris Dawn mission using the Crew Dragon spacecraft was not disclosed to the public, but it’s estimated to have cost hundreds of millions of dollars.
This estimate is based on the price of another Crew Dragon mission. The Washington Post reported that in 2021, SpaceX sold tickets for the Ax-1 mission at $55 million (R$300 million) each.
At that time, four businessmen stayed on the International Space Station (ISS) for 16 days.
Funding the Journey
According to Forbes, the funding for Polaris Dawn came from one of the crew members, billionaire Jared Isaacman, the founder of payment services Shift4 Payments, with a net worth of $1.5 billion.
SpaceX flights for space tourists tend to be more expensive due to their longer duration and greater distance traveled. However, shorter, quicker flights into space, like those offered by Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, are less costly.
Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic
Blue Origin’s New Shepard missions last about 10 minutes, while Virgin Galactic’s VSS Unity flights take around 15 minutes.
In 2021, Blue Origin auctioned a seat on its first crewed flight for $28 million (R$150 million). The winner originally planned to travel with Bezos but withdrew, and an 18-year-old student took the seat.
“I thank every Amazon employee, every customer. You’ve paid for all of this,” Bezos said in an interview after the trip.
A year later, Blue Origin’s flights became cheaper: the MoonDAO cryptocurrency project bought two tickets for another mission at $1.25 million (R$6.8 million) each.
Virgin Galactic’s Prices
Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic charges $600,000 (R$3.2 million) per ticket. However, those who reserved seats around 20 years ago when sales began “only” paid $200,000 (R$1 million).
Virgin Galactic told the Associated Press in August 2023 that approximately 800 people are on the waiting list.
To reduce the queue, the company plans to use two new planes named Delta. The goal is to perform 125 flights annually and transport 750 passengers.
A Privilege for Few
While space travel remains a privilege for a select few, many enthusiasts have flocked to launch sites to witness the takeoffs in person. And they also have to pay for the visit.
