Demand growing for civilian space tourism, industry says

After the company SpaceX successfully lifted off Earth taking a civilian crew into space, it seems we're getting closer to space tourism becoming more of a reality.

While pricing for a seat on a craft into space is unclear, it is likely to only be available to the wealthy for some time.

Craig Curran is the president of the DePrez Group of Travel Companies, and he says the question of when space tourism might be available to the average person is a big one.

Curran says some companies, like Axiom Space — which sell missions to the International Space Station — have been selling trips to space for between $50 million to $70 million.

He says SpaceX is "developing their own orbital options now" and the company Blue Origin — who claim to be able to offer "a window seat on a life-changing spaceflight" are doing suborbital space flights which customers can book right now.

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Curran says that while some of these companies are private — like Blue Origin — and don't release their pricing, it has been rumored to cost between $1 million and $1.5 million for a flight.

According to market research from Polaris, over $848 million was generated from space tourism in 2023.

"Virgin Galactic, which started its journey to space travel in 2004, expects to have its Delta class spaceships flying in 2026 — now, they've already done seven missions," Curran said.

Trips are "rumored to be at around $600,000 a seat," he told Scripps News. But he said they aren't yet officially on sale.

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Curran says there is also another option called Space Perspective , which is a balloon that goes up about 100,000 feet toward space. It's a six-hour journey that takes two hours to get into apogee, with two hours floating there and two hours to get back down to Earth's surface.

Curran says the company is doing test flights of the balloons and the industry expects flights to be on sale by 2025 and to sell for over $100,000 each.

And for an even more affordable option to experience the conditions of space, the company Zero-G offers flights in a modified Boeing 727 — and while passengers won't go into space, they will be able to experience the feeling of weightlessness on these flights. Those seats go for about $9,000 each, Curran said.