Have you ever thought about traveling to space? While we’re far from intergalactical travel and settlements on other planets, space tourism and commercial space flights are closer to reality than ever before. A year ago, humans were able to access space through a non-government funded space vehicle for the first time in history under Space X, a private corporation with its main goal being affordable space settlement. The Space X Crew Dragon capsule was able to bring two NASA astronauts safely back to Earth from the International Space Station (ISS). Before this feat, the Russian Space Agency was the only company that had offered orbital space flights to the public, with a record of bringing seven tourists to space in the early 2000s before ceasing operations around a decade ago. Now, a few companies have built a solid foundation and are aiming to make the once far-away dream of public space flights a reality. Two private corporations, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, have set their eyes on commercial suborbital space flights. These flights travel at speeds slower than those required of orbital flights, but still provide its passengers a few minutes of weightlessness. Space X, most likely the leading corporation in private space exploration, have set its eyes on settling Mars and the Moon, but have also already sold seats on future Crew Dragon flights to wealthy customers. Lastly, an aerospace company named Boeing is right behind Space X in ferrying astronauts to the ISS, and is possibly looking at the ability to fly private passengers into space at a rate of $35,000 per night. While affordable commercial space flights are still not a thing, drastic development have taken place in recent years. With these corporations leading the future of space tourism, who knows? You might soon be able to view the stars and planets from Space!
Jeff's Astro Blog 
The topic of commercial space travel is so fascinating, thank you for this blog post! Considering the fact that private space travel is so expensive combined with the possibility of colonizing other planets (specifically Mars), I wonder what the political implications of private space travel/Mars colonization will be. Will the class divide be further deepened with an ever bigger divide between the rich and the poor (around 160 million km, to be exact)? I suppose we’ll find out! Well maybe not us, but our grandchildren.
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I absolutely love this post, because I would love to travel to space.
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Opening up the space industry to civilians is the first step in this ambition. Before, only a handful of contractors had the means to bid for these contracts. Competition drives innovation and that is what we are seeing now. I agree with you that these corporations are leading the way, but what have you not considered? Open sourced space travel. Not for profit, for the benefit of human kind. For example, shipping lanes that go to low earth orbit and then descend to their destination? How will that impact the time it takes to send food or goods in trade between countries? What if, because of open space travel, we start seeing each other as humans instead of citizens of different imaginary boundaries? Great Post! Thanks!
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I had no idea that we have already sent people into outer space commercially. Of course, it had to Russia though that got it done first. I’m not sure if the competition surrounding space exploration is still as stiff between The U.S and them as it was in the 1950s but I’m sure they have some pride in being the first to send non-astronauts into outer space. I wonder what the timeline for all of this is though. I know it’s soon, but exactly how soon? Are companies still in production of these spacecraft? Do they have them built and are just awaiting legal approval? What stage are they exactly in?
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