book a trip to space

New Shepard is ushering in a new generation of astronauts.

Soar Above the Kármán Line

Return to Earth, Forever Changed

New Shepard astronauts ascend toward space at more than three times the speed of sound. They pass the Kármán line, the internationally recognized boundary of space 62 miles (100 km) above Earth, before unbuckling to float weightless and gaze at our planet. The crew returns gently under parachutes, forever changed.

Inside the Capsule

Every Seat is a Window Seat

Gaze upon Earth from giant windows comprising one-third of the capsule’s surface area. The spacious and pressurized capsule seats six and is climate-controlled for comfort.

Learn, Train, Fly

Time to Train

Our on-site astronaut training program is meticulously designed to teach everything you’ll need to know for a safe spaceflight. Over two days, you’ll learn about New Shepard’s mission profile, safety systems, zero-g protocols, and execute mission simulations.

Welcome to West Texas

The Pioneering Spirit of Launch Site One

Spectacular sunrises, sunsets, and stargazing abound at Launch Site One, nestled in the Guadalupe Mountains near Van Horn, TX. You and your crew will stay at Astronaut Village, cultivating fellowship and memories to last a lifetime.

For the Benefit of Earth

Fully Reusable and Carbon-Free

Nearly 99% of New Shepard’s dry mass is reused, including its capsule, booster, and engine. During flight, the only byproduct of New Shepard’s engine combustion is water vapor with no carbon emissions.

Safety at the Center

Safety, Our Highest Priority

New Shepard began flying humans in 2021 following the conclusion of a rigorous flight test program. The crew capsule has numerous redundant safety systems. Its crew escape system has been successfully tested three times, demonstrating that it can activate safely during any phase of flight.

Join a new generation of astronauts.

© 2024 Blue Origin LLC

Book Your Reservation

*For non-US Customers: We do not collect customer State/Province information in order to complete your deposit. You may continue to complete your deposit with the “State/Province” field disabled.

We will never sell your personal data. It will only be used to process your order and support your experience. For more information, please read our privacy policy .

• Login/Register
• Solar System
• Exotic Objects
• Upcoming Events
• Deep-Sky Objects
• Observing Basics
• Telescopes and Equipment
• Astrophotography
• Space Exploration
• Human Spaceflight
• Robotic Spaceflight
• The Magazine

Six ways to buy a ticket to space in 2021

Earlier this month, SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule safely ferried NASA astronauts Doug Hurley and Robert Behnken back to Earth following a multi-month trip to the International Space Station (ISS). No privately built spacecraft had ever carried humans into orbit before. But unlike SpaceShipOne, which was a single craft built specifically to win a prize, there are multiple models of the Crew Dragon, each designed to be reused.   

It’s finally looking like the exciting era of space tourism is about to erupt. A handful of so-called “new space” companies are now competing to sell space tourists trips on private spacecraft. Each one has a slightly different means of reaching space, and not all of them will get you all the way into orbit. But as long as you’re rich, you should have no problem purchasing your ticket to space.

Virgin Galactic

SpaceShipOne was retired after just three successful spaceflights, but the technology lives on in Virgin Galactic’s Spaceship Unity . Like its predecessor, Virgin Galactic’s rocketplane drops from a specially engineered aircraft before boosting itself to 50 miles (80 kilometers) in altitude. That’s high enough for Virgin Galactic’s pilots to earn their astronaut badges. However, others define space via the so-called Kármán line, the generally accepted boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and space that sits 62 miles (100 kilometers) above our planet’s surface.

Virgin Galactic’s goal is to become “the world’s first commercial spaceline,” and eventually they’ll offer regular flights from Spaceport America in southern New Mexico. The company is planning to begin regular flights in early 2021, with CEO Richard Branson slated as the first non-professional pilot to travel on Spaceship Unity .

SpaceX is the only private rocket company to ever send a human into orbit. They’re also the only company now NASA-certified to send people to circle Earth. So, when will SpaceX start selling tickets to private citizens for trips to space? In the past, Elon Musk has said that the spacecraft could have a bright future carrying private passengers into orbit. And SpaceX recently announced that it has already sold seats on future Crew Dragon flights through other companies that are handling the logistics.

Ultimately though, Musk’s goal is to settle Mars. And to do that, he needs a bigger spacecraft. That’s why SpaceX’s engineers are working feverishly on its Starship, which is still under development. If the enormous spaceship works, it could literally rocket dozens of space tourists at a time between a number of destinations on Earth, or perhaps throughout the inner solar system. The company says that Starship would be able to travel between any two locations on Earth in less than one hour.

SpaceX is confident enough in their vessel that they already sold a Starship flight around the Moon to Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. No human has traveled to the Moon in nearly 50 years, and Maezawa, a fashion designer and online clothing retailer, has said he’ll take a group of artists with him.

Blue Origin

Jeff Bezos started his rocket company, Blue Origin, back in 2000. And he’s been selling Amazon stock to pump billions of dollars into the effort ever since. Like SpaceX, they’re prioritizing reusable rockets and spacecraft that can drastically reduce the cost associated with spaceflight.

Much of Blue Origin’s effort has gone into developing a pair of rockets: New Shepard and New Glenn.

New Shepard can carry six people inside a suborbital capsule some 60 miles (100 km) into space. Blue Origin has already flown a dozen test flights, and they’re still planning several additional tests before launching passengers. However, in March, Axios reported that Blue Origin could send passengers into space in 2020, though COVID-19 has caused delays across the space industry. If the company can still get its space capsule tested in 2020, it could be on course for paid flights in 2021.

Meanwhile, Blue Origin has announced that it will soon start selling tickets. The company’s website doesn’t list the price of a Blue Origin trip, but Bezos has previously said their space tourists can expect to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to fly in its New Shepard capsule.

The company is also working hard on their New Glenn rocket, a heavy-lift, reusable launch vehicle that Blue Origin has already invested more than $2.5 billion into developing. It’s larger than SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket, but smaller than the rocket planned with Starship. That size could eventually enable regular passenger trips into orbit and even beyond. The company will need that capacity, too. Blue Origin’s goal is to one day have millions of people living and working in space.

Axiom Space’s goal is to create the world’s first commercial space station. In the meantime, they’ve inked a deal to send a crew of private citizens to the ISS aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule in October 2021.

Axiom’s initial crewed mission, dubbed Ax1, should send three paying astronauts to the ISS. Each ticket reportedly costs $55 million. And while it might seem like there’s a small pool of potential ticket buyers at that rate, in the U.S. alone, roughly 75,000 American households have that much money. Axiom also figures it’s just getting started selling tickets to space. In the near future, the company says it will send three crews a year to the ISS.

Back in 2014, NASA selected two companies — SpaceX and Boeing — to receive multibillion-dollar contracts to build spacecraft that could ferry astronauts to the ISS. SpaceX made good on the first crewed flight of its Commercial Crew Program contract earlier this year. Meanwhile, Boeing has yet to get its Starliner spacecraft safely to the ISS and back. Their first test flight reached orbit but failed to make the space station, and a NASA review outlined numerous necessary fixes.

Boeing will attempt another uncrewed test flight next year. And if all goes well, they could fly to the ISS by late 2021.

But once Boeing is flying to and from the ISS, the iconic aerospace company is also technically allowed to fly private passengers to the space station. They’ve been quiet on this option, but NASA has said they’d accommodate passengers at a rate of $35,000 per night.

Boeing has also hired a corporate test pilot astronaut, Christopher Ferguson. He’s been training alongside NASA’s astronauts and will be among the first to fly on Starliner. He might not count as a space tourist, but Ferguson will ultimately be part of an entirely new group of professional astronauts that work for private companies, not national space agencies.

Space Adventures

Space Adventures is an American company that offers private spaceflights to the ISS and, eventually, the moon. Since their founding in 1998, the company has sold a number of other spaceflight related experiences, like simulated zero-gravity airplane flights. And unlike their competitors, Space Adventures has sent space tourists into orbit, too. They’ve been responsible for over half a dozen paid trips to the ISS that made use of Russian spacecraft.

Most recently, they booked a launch to the space station on Russia’s veteran Soyuz spacecraft, which is set for December 2021. The mission, dubbed Soyuz MS-20, will fly with a lone cosmonaut and two Space Adventures tourists.

Space Adventures has arranged another path to get paying customers into space, too. They recently announced a deal with SpaceX that will put four space tourists in a SpaceX capsule and send them into orbit around Earth. How much will it cost? For now, both companies are keeping the cost of these tickets private. But those who do make the trip should get an excellent show. The mission will orbit at several times the height of the ISS.

Unfortunately, few of us have enough disposable income to fund a trip beyond Earth’s atmosphere. But with at least a half dozen ways for the wealthy to purchase a ticket into space next year, the hope is that the cost will continue to decline. And if that happens, you might be closer than you think to regularly having your rocket pass checked by the TSA.

A brief history of astronauts stuck in space

The JUICE mission just pulled off an unprecedented spaceflight maneuver

All about the Polaris Dawn mission launching soon

NASA announces Boeing Starliner will return to Earth without crew

Here’s how NASA will deorbit the International Space Station

Opinion: How we can explore space without repeating colonialism’s mistakes

NASA bids farewell to NEOWISE mission

Mars could have oceans’ worth of liquid water buried in its crust

Archaeologists conduct first ‘space excavation’ on International Space Station

Space Tourism: How Much Does it Cost & Who's Offering It?

Last Updated: December 17, 2022

Many of us dream of going to space and over 600 people have traveled to space as astronauts in government-funded agencies such as NASA, the European Space Agency, and Roscosmos. But how much does spaceflight cost in today and how is that expected to change in the coming years? 

With new advancements in spaceflight technology, the costs of space travel are decreasing, making the dream of spaceflight a little closer for us all.

Evolution of Spaceflight Costs and Technologies

During the space race, the cost of sending something into space averaged between $6,000 to over $25,000 per kg of weight not adjusted for inflation and NASA spent $28 billion to land astronauts on the moon, about $288 billion in today’s dollars.

In recent decades, it has averaged around $10,000 per kg though certain missions have been higher due to other factors including the destination, the size of the rocket, the amount of fuel needed, and the cost of fuel. 

After the retirement of the space shuttle program, NASA paid Russia to transport astronauts to the ISS at about $80 million per seat on the Soyuz rocket. NASA’s biggest and newest rocket, the SLS (Space Launch System) which is currently being utilized for the new moon missions including Artemis and Orion, currently costs about $2-4 billion per launch.

But recent years and the addition of private space companies have drastically changed the game. NASA allowed private space companies to develop equipment for missions, including a 2006 partnership with SpaceX under the Commercial Orbital Transportation Services (COTS) program to provide resupply for crew and cargo demonstration contracts to the International Space Station (ISS). 

This partnership has continued to flourish over the years with SpaceX successfully launching two NASA astronauts in May 2020 on a Crew Dragon Spacecraft, making SpaceX the first private company to send astronauts to the ISS and the first crewed orbital launch from American soil in 9 years.

With the revolutionary technology of reusable boosters from SpaceX, the cost has plummeted, achieving less than $1,600 per kg with the Falcon Heavy (still totaling more than $100 million per launch) and even a projected cost of under a thousand for their next generation model Star Ship.

 These recent innovations are even making SLS the more expensive, less efficient option if SpaceX’s projections continue to progress as expected within margins of error. We shall see how NASA plans to adapt goals in light of this.

The Falcon Heavy is a cost-effective option for launching payloads into space.

The rise of private space companies

With private space companies, the opportunity for civilians to book a trip to space similar to booking a flight came closer to reality. Dennis Tito was the first private citizen to pay for a trip to space with a trip to the ISS from April 28th to May 6th, 2001 for $20 million dollars. Tito purchased his experience through Space Adventures Inc. which was founded in 1998 and offers a variety of different space experiences. They even acquired Zero Gravity Corporation, NASA’s provider of Reduced Gravity Training (not in space) for its astronauts, in 2008. They offer similar experiences for private individuals starting at about $8,200 as of this publishing (December 2022).

Space Adventures sent seven other space tourists to the ISS through 2009, but due to a number of factors, Space Adventures had to put their ISS offerings on hold until 2021 when they were able to purchase two Soyuz seats due to NASA moving their contract to SpaceX. Space Adventures sent two people to the ISS via the Roscosmos Soyuz rocket in December 2021 and is working on expanding its offerings.

In addition to Elon Musk’s SpaceX, there are a number of other private space companies getting into the commercial spaceflight/ space tourism market, most notably Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos’s Blue Origins.

Flight Providers & Rates

What are the current rates for commercial spaceflight tickets? What commercial spaceflight trips have already happened? All prices are per person/ per seat.

SpaceX has had the most experience in sending humans to space thanks to its partnership with NASA and Musk has made it clear that he wants to make space travel an option for the public. To date, SpaceX has offered two commercial spaceflight options and has one big one planned for the future:

• SpaceX completed a Multi-Day Orbital Voyage, the first of their new plan to offer private astronaut experiences through their NASA partnership.  
• Estimated $55 million for a 3-day stay inside a modified SpaceX Dragon capsule orbiting the Earth at 357 miles (574 km) with three crewmates, sponsored by billionaire Jared Isaacman to raise money for St Jude’s Children’s Hospital
• Partnership between SpaceX and Houston-based Axiom Space Inc.
• $55 million for a 10-day trip to ISS at 408 km with a weeklong (8-day) stay in the orbital lab. 
• Expected to continue in 2023
• Axiom plans to build a stand-alone space station to replace the ISS with the first module expected to launch in 2024.
• Steve Aoki: American DJ and record producer
• Everyday Astronaut Tim Dodd: American science communicator, content creator, photographer, and musician
• Yemi A.D.: Czech choreographer, art director and performer
• Rhiannon Adam: Irish photographer
• Karim Iliya: British photographer and filmmaker
• Brendan Hall: American filmmaker and photographer
• Dev Joshi: Indian television actor
• Choi Seung-hyun (stage name: T.O.P.): South Korean rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor
• Cost is unknown, likely a minimum of $500 million

2. Blue Origin

Blue Origin: currently offers a 100km 12-minute ride to the Karman Line, the recognized boundary between Earth’s atmosphere and outer space; pricing is still unclear and dependent on a variety of factors 

• On July 2021, Jeff and Mark Bezos went into space on the New Shepard rocket with Oliver Daemen (who won the trip through an auction bid of around 28 million) and honored guest Wally Funk (a member of Mercury 13, the private program in which women trained to be astronauts but ultimately never went to space)
• Blue Origin has completed 6 commercial space flights as of this publishing. Some “honorable guests” have been invited free of charge, such as Funk and actor William Shatner (Captain Kirk from the original Star Trek). Some have been sponsored or have received special deals due to their nonprofit status.
• $28 million winning auction bid for the first flight ( $19 million was donated)
• $1 million for a board member of a nonprofit
• About $1.25 for a Dude Perfect comedy group crew member, hosted by MoonDAO in August 2022

3. Virgin Galactic Subortbital Joy Ride

Virgin Galactic Subortbital Joy Ride: $450,000 for a 90-minute ride to suborbital space 50km above sea level 

• In July 2021, founder Richard Branson flew to the edge of Earth’s atmosphere with two pilots and three other Virgin Galactic employees as the first test of commercial spaceflight for the company
• Each VSS Unity SpaceShipTwo carries up to four passengers
• Expected flights are currently anticipated to begin in 2023 
• Includes training accommodations and amenities; launches from New Mexico

4. Roscosmos/ Space Adventures Customized ISS Trip

Roscosmos/ Space Adventures Customized ISS Trip: $50-60million for a 12-day trip to the ISS at 408 km

• In October 2021 an actress and director shot scenes for the first movie filmed in space
• December 2021 Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano for two days (same billionaire planning to go to the moon with SpaceX)
• With the current situation between Russia and Ukraine, this option is effectively nonexistent currently

5. Space Perspective

Space Perspective: a six-hour balloon ride to space/ the stratosphere on their “Spaceship Neptune” at $125,000

• Rides are currently scheduled to begin by the end of 2024. 
• A pressurized capsule will be slowly lifted by a football-field-sized hydrogen-filled balloon 19 miles (30 km) into the stratosphere, about 3 times the altitude of commercial planes. 
• The passenger cabin features a bar, bathroom, and windows for sightseeing and is expected to carry 8 passengers and 1 pilot per trip.

6. Aurora Space Station (no longer in development)

Aurora Space Station was supposed to be the world’s first luxury space hotel, offering a 12-day stay for $9.5 million allowing them to free float, observe space and earth, practice hydroponics and play in a hologram deck, but they shut down operations and refunded all deposits in March 2021. They received a lot of media attention and therefore are noted here due to that notoriety.

Conclusion: the current cost of flying to space

Currently, it is only available to those who can spend an average of $250,000 to $500,000 for suborbital trips (about a fifteen-minute ride to the edge of space and back) or flights to actual orbit at more than $50 million per seat (though typically a longer trip than 15 minutes).

It could be free/ discounted if you can find a sponsor, often for nonprofit/ charity purposes, or if you are someone of notoriety that can help spread the company’s mission. 

Waitlists are available for most offerings, with a deposit, with many stretching years into the future, which might end up helping you have a spot at a more reasonable price in the future if you can save up.

Many companies are looking to provide extended stay options on private space stations in the future, similar to how you might book a flight somewhere and stay in a hotel for a few days. Again, for the immediate future, this is estimated to cost tens of millions of dollars. The biggest portion of the cost would be launching them, though it is still estimated that a couple million dollars will be needed to cover the expenses of your stay while you are on the space station, whether that is included in the ticket price or added on top of that.

Many companies are hopeful they can eventually price a trip to space down to $100,000 but that will likely take some time, even with the cost-saving measures of reusable boosters. Many forms of recent technology have evolved exponentially in recent years and with dropping price rates as well. Just as plane travel was originally prohibitively expensive, but has now become fairly reasonable for the average consumer, the hope is that the same will eventually happen with space tourism, but we will have to see how long that takes. 

While the possibility of going to space is still out of reach for many of us, hopefully, the advancements in recent years and those yet to come will help to continually lower the costs of going to space, just as has occurred in many other fields. This author, for one, truly hopes that the interest of the elite who are currently able to participate in these offerings will spur research and development, not just of space tourism but space exploration in general, to help fuel a quicker journey to space access for all

Written by Sarah Hoffschwelle

Sarah Hoffschwelle is a freelance writer who covers a combination of topics including astronomy, general science and STEM, self-development, art, and societal commentary. In the past, Sarah worked in educational nonprofits providing free-choice learning experiences for audiences ages 2-99. As a lifelong space nerd, she loves sharing the universe with others through her words. She currently writes on Medium at  https://medium.com/@sarah-marie  and authors self-help and children’s books.

Wow! There's more to read 🚀

This page is part of our collection of articles about astronauts . If you enjoyed the read, then you’ll love the following articles.

How much do astronauts get paid?

The requirements to become an astronaut are extremely rigorous. Does their salary match the difficulty of their profession?

How many flags are on the Moon? The up-to-date list

What are the different types of astronauts suit?

How do astronauts train for zero-gravity environments?

• Search Please fill out this field.
• Manage Your Subscription
• Give a Gift Subscription
• Newsletters
• Sweepstakes
• Space Travel + Astronomy

13 Things Tourists Should Know Before Traveling to Space, According to Astronauts

We asked the pros for their best tips on handling a first trip to space.

For most of human spaceflight history, those lucky enough to reach the stars were professional astronauts hired and trained by government agencies around the world. But since the early 2000s, when seven intrepid travelers paid millions to spend a few days aboard the International Space Station (ISS), space tourism has begun to take off. We're now on the cusp of a new era of space exploration, with commercial companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin launching spacecraft capable of taking paying travelers beyond the Earth's surface.

We spoke with former NASA astronauts Leroy Chiao and Scott Parazynski to get their tips for first-time spaceflight participants. During his 15 years with NASA, Chiao participated in four missions — three aboard the space shuttle and one to the ISS, in which he served as commander. Parazynski worked at NASA for 17 years, flying five shuttle missions throughout his career. Read on to discover what they think aspiring space tourists need to know.

Your only job on the flight will be to kick back, relax, and enjoy the ride.

If you're taking a suborbital flight, which is what companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin have offered, your ride will be a quick up-and-down to reach space, rather than a full orbit of the Earth. The short journey is relatively easy compared to what professional astronauts experience. For starters, you won't need to worry about flying your spacecraft. That's all up to the spaceflight provider. "You won't have any responsibility other than to enjoy the experience — and not kick anyone else in the head," says Parazynski. "Their obligations on the flight are pretty straightforward."

As such, the training programs for suborbital space tourist experiences are relatively minimal, perhaps only a few days in length at most. "The downside of not having a lot of training is that you don't have the confidence that comes from lots of training," says Parazynski. "Contrast that with the training I had on the space shuttle, where we trained for hundreds and hundreds of hours for launching in space. If something were to go awry, we would know exactly what to do and our hearts wouldn't skip a beat."

So, other than learning to place your complete trust in your spaceflight provider, Parazynski recommends talking to people who have flown before in order to ease any nervousness. Chiao agrees: "The best advice I can give on launch — and it's easy to say, harder to do — is to try to relax and enjoy the whole process," he says. "Pay attention during your training, talk to other people who've been there if you can. And actually, you might be surprised — it's quite calm!"

Make sure you’re physically and mentally fit.

"I think people should treat this as their Olympics or Super Bowl. This is a really big life experience, and though you don't need to be an Olympic athlete or a Super Bowl champion to fly in space, it helps to be fit," says Parazynski. After all, your body will be experiencing quite a range of new sensations during your spaceflight."

But it's not just about physical fitness — mental fitness is key, too. "I think through fitness comes mental acuity as well," says Parazynski. "The more you can be engaged in the experience, the more you'll remember of it — it'll be more impactful to you."

The G-forces experienced on launch and reentry are not as intense as you might expect.

If you've ever watched a livestream of an astronaut launch, caught any Hollywood flick about space travel, or ridden Mission: Space at Walt Disney World's Epcot theme park, you know that during launch, astronauts get crushed back into their seats. (And, actually, during reentry, too!) They're experiencing strong G-forces, or a sensation of weight felt during acceleration. It's the same feeling you get when you speed up quickly in a car or zoom through a loop or a sharp curve on a roller coaster, but during a rocket launch, those forces are stronger and more sustained. While the experience might seem a little terrifying, the pros say it's quite manageable.

"The G-forces aren't nearly as bad as they show in the movies," says Chiao. "If you're good enough to be given medical approval to go on a trip like this, you're not going to have any problems handling the G-forces." He also notes that you'll likely go through centrifugal runs during your training to prep for the sensation — you'll be strapped into a spinning machine that lets you experience strong G-forces, just like that spinning amusement park ride where you're pressed against the wall and the floor drops.

But to make launch and reentry as comfortable on your body as possible, you'll want to physically relax your muscles so you don't fight against the G-forces. "If you relax and let your body sink into the launch couch, you're going to tolerate it much better," says Chiao. "If you're rigid, that's where you might hurt yourself. And make sure your limbs and arms are inside of the couch."

To prep for weightlessness, you should book a zero-gravity flight.

While it takes quite a bit of effort (and time and money) to get into space to experience weightlessness, you can actually experience the sensation right here on Earth — or rather, just slightly above it. All you need to do is book a zero-gravity flight , where a plane flies in a series of parabolas (or arch-like shapes) during which passengers experience simulated weightlessness through free fall.

It's physically the same as skydiving or even riding a roller coaster, but in those two instances, your senses tell you you're actually falling. "When you're in a zero-G airplane, the airplane is falling at the same rate you are, so you're floating inside the airplane," says Chiao. "That's what it's like in a spacecraft when you get up into space and the engines cut off."

Through commercial companies like the Zero Gravity Corporation , anyone who can spare the cost of a ticket can experience weightlessness — and anyone who's planning on making a trip to space should definitely give it a go. "If they have the means, they should get on a zero-G flight before they go on a suborbital flight," says Parazynski. "It would take some of the mystery out of 'what am I going to feel like?' and 'how do I move?'"

Learning how to scuba dive is good weightlessness training, too.

While being underwater isn't exactly like floating in space, it's a pretty good way to practice moving around in a weightless environment. In fact, NASA even has a life-sized replica of the ISS set inside a giant pool, so astronauts can train for spacewalks underwater.

"Moving in weightlessness comes to you very quickly when you spend some time underwater," says Parazynski. "Get neutrally buoyant underwater and very gently try and move yourself along the ocean floor or bottom of your pool. It doesn't take a lot of force, but it does take a lot of thought."

Come up with a game plan for your few minutes in space.

On suborbital flights, you're only going to have a few minutes in weightlessness, so you should plan exactly how you want to spend your time up there. Figure out if you'd like to bring a memento like a family photo or college pennant for a fun picture. (U.S. Naval Academy graduates and former astronauts Wally Schirra and Tom Stafford famously put a "Beat Army" sign in the window of their Gemini VI spacecraft, so there's a long tradition of this.) Decide in advance if you want to attempt what spaceflight veterans call "stupid astronaut tricks," like flips or spins. But most importantly, budget time to look out the window.

"The most important thing I would tell future astronauts is to savor the view out the window," says Parazynski. "It's, for lack of a better term, a God's-eye view, and so few people have ever had a chance to see it. It's really a beautiful thing to be hovering in space and looking down at your planet."

Don’t worry about taking your own photos.

"As far as taking photographs, I don't know that I would recommend it," says Chiao. "You're not going to be very good at it, first of all, because it takes a little bit of practice to get used to zero-G. Don't waste that time taking photos. Get your memories, look out those windows, and enjoy the whole experience of being weightless." Plus, given the price tag of these spaceflights, we're pretty sure that your operator will provide you with photos and videos of your journey anyway.

When you get into zero gravity, you might feel a little dizzy.

The body functions a bit differently when you remove gravity from the equation for a sustained period of time, and side effects may include dizziness and nausea. "You're going to feel full-headed because there's no longer gravity pulling fluid down into your legs," says Chiao. "And so all that fluid comes up into your torso, and you can feel it right away. It feels kind of like you're standing on your head."

But the good news is, on suborbital flights you might be able to avoid the worst of it. "The adrenaline and excitement are going to make you do OK at first, and by the time you might start feeling bad, it's time to strap back in and come back down," says Chiao.

If you’re spending a few days in space, be prepared for some bumps and bruises.

On a suborbital flight, you won't have a ton of time in space, so you won't really have to worry about acclimating to zero gravity. However, some private spaceflight companies are looking to send their clients up into orbit for longer stays and there are even talks of a space hotel within Voyager Station . If you're going to spend a few days or even a few weeks up in space, you're probably going to bump your head more than once, no matter how much you've trained for the experience.

"It's really funny watching rookie astronauts the first day or two up on a mission," says Parazynski. "We called them the bull in a china shop. They push off with full force and they crack their skull or bang their knee."

You’re also going to make a mess.

Doing routine tasks like brushing your teeth (you can't just spit your toothpaste into a sink), clipping your fingernails (you don't want them floating off into your space station), and going to the bathroom (have you ever thought about how to use a toilet without gravity?) are all very different experiences in weightlessness. Inevitably, you might have a few mishaps early on in your trip.

"Just sitting down for a meal, you put your fork down, and it's gone in 30 seconds," says Parazynski. "You may find it two days later in the cabin air cleaner because that's where the air currents have taken it." Luckily, a lost fork is an easy mess to clean up — and the situation can be prevented by tethering it down. Other messes are a different story.

"As far as using the restroom, that's what you need to pay attention to during your training. The toilet is not particularly simple and you have to be careful," says Chiao. (In case you were wondering, space toilets use airflow to guide things where they're supposed to go.) "But be prepared to make some messes," says Chiao. "And everybody has to clean up their own mess."

If you’re going to do a spacewalk, the stakes are much higher for you and your crew.

If you want to zip around space with a jetpack like George Clooney in "Gravity," sorry, but chances are that's not going to happen any time soon. Most private astronauts will be safely tucked inside their craft for the duration of their flight.

Unlike suborbital flights, future orbital flights with a spacewalk will require extensive training, given that spacewalks are inherently more dangerous than simply riding in a vessel. "If you're careless with your tethers and you float off into the void, there's not a whole lot anyone can come do for you," says Parazynski. It's possible that a crewmate may be able to head out to rescue you, but then you're endangering their life as well. "It's paramount for a spacewalker to think not just about their own health and well-being and their experience, but also that of their crewmates," he says.

If you’re in a capsule, be prepared for a bumpy landing.

While the only way up to space is by rocket, there are two ways to come back down: via a winged vehicle, like the space shuttle or Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo, or a capsule, like Apollo, Soyuz, and Blue Origin's New Shepard. The experiences are quite different, as winged vehicles land like an airplane on a runway, whereas capsules descend beneath parachutes onto land or water. While both experience a range of G-forces during reentry, capsules have a bit of a rougher ride, particularly at the very end.

"When the parachute comes out, you can expect to get jostled around a fair amount, so that can be disorienting," says Chiao. "Then, whether you're hitting the water or the ground, you're gonna get a good bump. There are shock-absorbing mechanisms, of course, that make it not too big a deal. But on Soyuz, you smack the ground pretty darn hard. It was kind of surprising!"

It’ll be worth every penny.

Sure, it's going to cost a small fortune to go into space as a tourist — for now, that's somewhere in the ballpark of several hundred thousand dollars for a suborbital flight and millions of dollars for longer-duration orbital stays. But ask any astronaut, and they're sure to tell you it'll be worth the investment.

"What I would tell prospective astronauts is that it's going to change their lives forever," says Parazynski. "It's a perspective that can't be captured in emotion on film. Even in 3D IMAX, there's no way to capture the way it's going to make you feel, the connectedness you feel to planet Earth, and the awe you have when you look out into the universe."

Related Articles

INTERSTELLAR TRIPS

Explore Beyond

Join the waiting list for our exclusive services.

Thanks for joining!

Space Tours

It’s Time to Explore More

Let Interstellar Trips help you find your perfect space vacation. We offer a wide range of luxury space tours, including private trips with our partners SpaceX and Virgin Galactic. All of our trips are designed for first-class customers, who value their privacy and want the most luxurious experience possible.

ORBIT EXPEDITION

Stratosphere trips are a type of space tourism experience that involves traveling to the stratosphere, the layer of Earth's atmosphere that lies between approximately 6 and 30 miles (10 and 50 kilometers) above the Earth's surface. Stratosphere trips offer passengers the opportunity to experience weightlessness and breathtaking views of the Earth and the stars.

Space Expeditions 

Space Travel Expeditions involve traveling beyond the Earth's atmosphere into outer space. These trips can take a variety of forms, including trips to the International Space Station (ISS), lunar missions, and trips to other destinations in the solar system.

First-Class Services

Exclusive Experience

Loading days...

VIP Concierge

Personalised Training & Support

Why Travel With Us?

Your Personal Travel Guide

The Ultimate Space Adventure

Space travel is exciting for a number of reasons. One of the most unique and exciting aspects of space travel is the opportunity to experience weightlessness. This can be a thrilling and unforgettable experience, as it allows travellers to feel what it's like to float freely in a microgravity environment. Space travel also offers travellers the opportunity to see the Earth from a perspective that is not possible from the surface. From space, travellers can see the curvature of the Earth and the stunning beauty of our planet from a completely new angle.

Adventures In The Final Frontier

In addition to these exciting experiences, space travel also offers the opportunity to explore the unknown. Space is an enormous and largely unexplored frontier, and space travel offers the opportunity to explore this vast and mysterious realm. For many people, the idea of being able to explore new worlds and discover what lies beyond our planet is a truly exciting prospect. Furthermore, many space travel missions are designed to gather scientific data and conduct experiments that can help us understand more about the universe and our place in it. For people who are interested in science and discovery, the opportunity to participate in these types of missions can be very exciting. Finally, the thrill of adventure is also a major part of the appeal of space travel. Whether it's the excitement of launching into space or the thrill of exploring new worlds, space travel offers a unique and thrilling adventure that is unlike anything else.

Bookings have already began

[email protected]

123-456-7890

Thanks for submitting!

Space Voyages: Affordable Journeys Beyond Imagination

Experience the cosmos with the International Space Travel Bureau (ISTB), your gateway to affordable, unforgettable interplanetary travels and best-value space journey packages on earth and beyond

Thank you for subscribing

Thank you for your purchase. You'll receive an email shortly.

Space Reviews

What our space travellers say

The tour exceeded all my expectations, from the smooth take-off at Kennedy Space Center to the breathtaking views of Earth from the moon. The crew was professional and ensured our safety and comfort throughout the journey. I highly recommend this once-in-a-lifetime space travel adventure!

Saturnee Rajasamy

My trip to Mars was absolutely worth every penny! The journey was thrilling, and the views of the red planet left me speechless. Despite a minor issue with communication back on Earth, the onboard amenities were excellent, and I enjoyed delicious meals. If you’re a space enthusiast seeking an unforgettable adventure, this is it!

Marsan Arifin

Embarking on a space journey was an experience like no other! The launch was thrilling, and watching Earth shrink behind us was awe-inspiring. Although there were a few technical glitches and some discomfort, the trip to the asteroid belt was truly spectacular. Overall, it was an adventure I’m glad I took part in.

Space travel packages, interplanetary tours.

Space Hubs Indulgence

Flyby Exploration

Subscribe to our newsletter

Obtain our most recent events and advancements

Explore Our Virtual Tours: Plan Your Itinerary

Come meet with our space travel advisor at our virtual Lunar Base Lounge

Explore cosmos affordable with our packages

International Space Travel Bureau, a collaboration agency with NASA, pioneers in designing unprecedented experiences beyond the earth's boundaries. We aim to make the cosmos more accessible, offering affordably priced, fully-customizable space travel packages that transport you to unimaginable destinations. Step into the future of tourism with us, where quality service meets cosmic exploration

Plan Your Space Travel With Our ISTB App

Talk to our space travel advisors and experts. Join our space travel community and explore our zero G space lab

Contact Space Voyages

Unleash your curiosity, expand your horizons, and step into the extraordinary realm of outer space travel by connecting with our International Space Travel Bureau — Submit your information now

What physical and health prerequisites are needed for participating in space travel?

To partake in this extraordinary adventure, passengers need to be in sound health and physical condition, be able to handle the rigors of launch, re-entry forces, and potential lunar gravity if partaking in our Moon base program. Individual requirements may vary depending on the specific mission.

What is the duration of various space tours offered?

The duration differs based on the mission type. Flyby explorations typically last a few hours, a trip to our Moon base can last up to a week, and the asteroid staging hub visit may extend to several weeks, inclusive of preparation and travel time

How does the company ensure safety in space tourism?

Safety is our utmost priority. All spacecraft undergo meticulous testing and regular maintenance. Passengers are trained thoroughly in safety procedures and are always accompanied by seasoned astronauts. We comply with all international standards for space travel.

What kind of pre-journey training is required?

All passengers must complete a pre-flight training regimen that includes physical fitness, safety protocols, understanding spacecraft operations, and emergency preparedness. The content and duration of training depend on mission specifics

How far into space do the different tours travel?

Flyby tours explore low Earth orbit around 100 kilometers (62 miles) above the Earth’s surface. The lunar tours travel approximately 385,000 kilometers (239,000 miles) to our Moon base, while the asteroid tours or other planetary flybys journey even further into space to our staging hubs and beyond

What can passengers expect to see and experience during various space tours?

Depending on the tour, passengers can experience weightlessness, witness Earth from space, explore the lunar surface, in-base activities and entertainments or engage in asteroid mining activities at our staging hubs. Each tour offers unique views and experiences

What is the cost of different space tours? Are there flexible payment options?

The cost varies significantly based on the journey specifics. We provide various payment plans to accommodate different budgets and financial scenarios. You can check out our deal page and its popular tour packages. We even offer 24 months interest-free instalment !

Are there age restrictions for space travel?

Yes, passengers must be at least 18 years old to participate. There’s no upper age limit but physical health requirements must be met. Our deals come with free insurance.

How does one book and schedule a space tour?

Space tours can be booked via our website or by contacting our customer service team directly. Post-booking, passengers will receive detailed information about their training schedule, launch date, and other mission specifics

What contingency plans are in place for technical difficulties or unforeseen circumstances during the journey?

We have comprehensive contingency plans for various scenarios, including safe return protocols if a mission needs to be aborted prematurely. Our spacecraft are equipped with multiple redundant systems to ensure passenger safety in case of any technical difficulties. All our astronauts and technical experts are professionally trained and NASA certified

"Reimagining Past, Remembering Future"

International Space Travel Bureau. A NASA Space Apps Challenge project by Socralytics

Are You Ready For Space?

We give people the opportunity to learn, train and travel into space 

Space Experiences

Welcome to your next journey, Space Experiences have spent many years working with individuals to fulfil their dreams of space. From the initial astronaut training where clients experience weightlessness for the first time, through to our Zero G trips, as well as jet fighter trips to the edge of space, and meeting astronauts. 

We work with space flight operators globally to select and get you onboard your trip to space. With so many options and experiences to choose from, trips to space are ready to launch, are you?

Our Background

With experienced adventurers leading the team as well as an advisory board that includes a founder of Virgin Galactic, Space Experiences has all the knowledge and relationships to take you on your journey of training all the way to orbital space flight and beyond!

Our Services

We offer the extraordinary, from the mundane jet fighter trips to the edge of space, all the way to taking you to the Space Station on holiday and beyond.

Meet the Team

Founder - jonny dodge.

Jonny Dodge has been around aviation and space travel since a young age, and with black book of all of the biggest players in the space industry there is no one better suited to help you on your journey to space 

Our team have years of experience working on the most unique events in the world, helping create world firsts from Antarctica to deep submarine dives to jet fighter trips and more. We can curate the perfect space experiences for you.

Join Our Mailing List

Connect with us.

Part of the GPM Group of companies, we create the worlds most unique experiences with our offices based in London, Dubai and Monaco, we have a worldwide foot print and portfolio of experiences that set us apart. We have been at the forefront of many of the worlds first experiences and adventures on earth and beyond and we look forward to taking you on this journey with us!

Copyright © 2023 Space Experiences - All Rights Reserved.

Powered by GoDaddy

This website uses cookies.

We use cookies to analyze website traffic and optimize your website experience. By accepting our use of cookies, your data will be aggregated with all other user data.

Space Tourism: Can A Civilian Go To Space?

2021 has been a busy year for private space tourism: overall, more than 15 civilians took a trip to space during this year. In this article, you will learn more about the space tourism industry, its history, and the companies that are most likely to make you a space tourist.

What is space tourism?

Brief history of space tourism, space tourism companies, orbital and suborbital space flights, how much does it cost for a person to go to space, is space tourism worth it, can i become a space tourist, why is space tourism bad for the environment.

Space tourism is human space travel for recreational or leisure purposes . It’s divided into different types, including orbital, suborbital, and lunar space tourism.

However, there are broader definitions for space tourism. According to the Space Tourism Guide , space tourism is a commercial activity related to space that includes going to space as a tourist, watching a rocket launch, going stargazing, or traveling to a space-focused destination.

The first space tourist was Dennis Tito, an American multimillionaire, who spent nearly eight days onboard the International Space Station in April 2001. This trip cost him $20 million and made Tito the first private citizen who purchased his space ticket. Over the next eight years, six more private citizens followed Tito to the International Space Station to become space tourists.

As space tourism became a real thing, dozens of companies entered this industry hoping to capitalize on renewed public interest in space, including Blue Origin in 2000 and Virgin Galactic in 2004. In the 2000s, space tourists were limited to launches aboard Russian Soyuz aircraft and only could go to the ISS. However, everything changed when the other players started to grow up on the market. There are now a variety of destinations and companies for travels to space.

There are now six major space companies that are arranging or planning to arrange touristic flights to space:

• Virgin Galactic;
• Blue Origin;
• Axiom Space;
• Space Perspective.

While the first two are focused on suborbital flights, Axiom and Boeing are working on orbital missions. SpaceX, in its turn, is prioritizing lunar tourism in the future. For now, Elon Musk’s company has allowed its Crew Dragon spacecraft to be chartered for orbital flights, as it happened with the Inspiration4 3-day mission . Space Perspective is developing a different balloon-based system to carry customers to the stratosphere and is planning to start its commercial flights in 2024.

Orbital and suborbital flights are very different. Taking an orbital flight means staying in orbit; in other words, going around the planet continually at a very high speed to not fall back to the Earth. Such a trip takes several days, even a week or more. A suborbital flight in its turn is more like a space hop — you blast off, make a huge arc, and eventually fall back to the Earth, never making it into orbit. A flight duration, in this case, ranges from 2 to 3 hours.

Here is an example: a spaceflight takes you to an altitude of 100 km above the Earth. To enter into orbit — make an orbital flight — you would have to gain a speed of about 28,000 km per hour (17,400 mph) or more. But to reach the given altitude and fall back to the Earth — make a suborbital flight — you would have to fly at only 6,000 km per hour (3,700 mph). This flight takes less energy, less fuel; therefore, it is less expensive.

• Virgin Galactic: $250,000 for a 2-hour suborbital flight at an altitude of 80 km;
• Blue Origin: approximately $300,000 for 12 minutes suborbital flight at an altitude of 100 km;
• Axiom Space: $55 million for a 10-day orbital flight;
• Space Perspective: $125,000 for a 6-hour flight to the edge of space (32 km above the Earth).

The price depends, but remember that suborbital space flights are always cheaper.

What exactly do you expect from a journey to space? Besides the awesome impressions, here is what you can experience during such a trip:

• Weightlessness . Keep in mind that during a suborbital flight you’ll get only a couple of minutes in weightlessness, but it will be truly fascinating .
• Space sickness . The symptoms include cold sweating, malaise, loss of appetite, nausea, fatigue, and vomiting. Even experienced astronauts are not immune from it!
• G-force . 1G is the acceleration we feel due to the force of gravity; a usual g-force astronauts experience during a rocket launch is around 3gs. To understand how a g-force influences people , watch this video.

For now, the most significant barrier for space tourism is price. But air travel was also once expensive; a one-way ticket cost more than half the price of a new car . Most likely, the price for space travel will reduce overtime as well. For now, you need to be either quite wealthy or win in a competition, as did Sian Proctor, a member of Inspiration4 mission . But before spending thousands of dollars on space travel, here is one more fact you might want to consider.

Rocket launches are harmful to the environment in general. During the burning of rocket fuels, rocket engines release harmful gases and soot particles (also known as black carbon) into the upper atmosphere, resulting in ozone depletion. Think about this: in 2018 black-carbon-producing rockets emitted about the same amount of black carbon as the global aviation industry emits annually.

However, not all space companies use black carbon for fuel. Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket has a liquid hydrogen-fuelled engine: hydrogen doesn’t emit carbon but simply turns into water vapor when burning.

The main reason why space tourism could be harmful to the environment is its potential popularity. With the rising amount of rocket launches the carbon footprint will only increase — Virgin Galactic alone aims to launch 400 of these flights annually. Meanwhile, the soot released by 1,000 space tourism flights could warm Antarctica by nearly 1°C !

Would you want to become a space tourist? Let us know your opinion on social media and share the article with your friends, if you enjoyed it! Also, the Best Mobile App Awards 2021 is going on right now, and we would very much appreciate it if you would vote for our Sky Tonight app . Simply tap "Vote for this app" in the upper part of the screen. No registration is required!

• Park Overview Explore Missions Zones
• Heroes and Legends Space Pioneers
• Behind the Gates Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour
• Race to the Moon Apollo Moon Landing
• Shuttle: A Ship Like No Other NASA's Space Shuttle Program
• NASA Now + Next Preparing for Journey to Mars
• All Attractions
• Plan Your Visit
• Hours Of Operation
• Hotel Packages
• Travel Information
• Events Overview
• Event Calendar
• See A Launch
• Groups Overview Plan Events and Tours
• Youth Groups Programs and Field Trips
• Scouts Adventures for Scout Troops
• Private Events Events and Custom Tours
• International Programs and Custom Tours
• Camp KSC Day Camp for Students
• Educators Resources for Teachers
• Programs Educational Programs at KSC
• Accessibility Information

Below are top recommendations on how to make the most out of a trip to Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. These are only suggestions based on the interests below, and the attractions are not listed in a particular order.

Start Here:

• Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame ® presented by Boeing ® - 1 hour
• Rocket Garden – 15 minutes
• Apollo/Saturn V Center  via the  Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour  - 2 hours
• Space Shuttle Atlantis  ®  with  Shuttle Launch Experience ®  -2 hours
• Astronaut Encounter - 1 hour 
• IMAX ® Space Film - 1 hour
• Journey to Mars: Explorers Wanted – 30 minutes
• Dining and shopping – 1 hour

DOWNLOAD ITINERARY Additional recommendations: 

For space enthusiasts:   Mission Status Briefing  - 30 minutes For young families:   Planet Play  - 30 minutes An add-on enhancement for everyone: Chat With An Astronaut (in addition to daily admission) - 1 hour 

Insider Tips:

• Purchase timed daily admission tickets in advance online to limit the time spent in any entry lines.
• Download the Kennedy Space Center Official Guide app to have quick access to the park map, FAQs, and detailed information on attractions, dining and shopping. Download at the Apple Store and Google Play .

One Day Visits

  one day visit: family with children under 10 years of age.

• Space Shuttle Atlantis® 1 hour
• Rocket Garden 20 minutes
• Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour including Apollo/Saturn V Center 2 hours
• Journey to Mars: Launched by United Launch Alliance 30 minutes
• Planet Play 30 minutes
• Dining and Shopping 1 hour

  One Day Visit: Family with Children Over 10 Years of Age

• Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® presented by Boeing® 30 minutes
• Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex® featuring Spaceport KSC (minimum height 39 inches) 1 hour
• Space Shuttle Atlantis® with the Shuttle Launch Experience® (minimum height 44 inches) 90 minutes
• Chat With An Astronaut Add-on Enhancement 1 hour

  One Day Visit: Adult Couple or Group

• Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex® featuring Spaceport KSC 75 minutes
• Space Shuttle Atlantis® with the Shuttle Launch Experience® 1 hour
• Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® presented by Boeing® 45 minutes
• Journey to Mars: Launched by United Launch Alliance 15 minutes
• Rocket Garden Guided Tour 20 minutes

  One Day Visit: Space Enthusiast

• Space Shuttle Atlantis® with the Shuttle Launch Experience® 75 minutes
• Heroes & Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® presented by Boeing® 1 hour
• Chat With An Astronaut Add-on Enhancement 40 minutes

Two Day Visits

  two day visit: family with children under 10 years of age.

• Space Shuttle Atlantis® with the Shuttle Launch Experience (minimum height 44 inches) 2 hours
• Rocket Garden 15 minutes
• Astronaut of the Day autograph session 15 minutes
• 3D Space Film 1 hour
• Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex® featuring Spaceport KSC (minimum height 39 inches) 60 minutes
• Character Appearance 15 minutes

  Two Day Visit: Family with Children Over 10 Years of Age

• Space Shuttle Atlantis® with Shuttle Launch Experience 2 hours
• Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex® featuring Spaceport KSC (minimum height 39 inches) 75 minutes
• Chat with an Astronaut Add-on Enhancement 1 hour
• Astronaut of the Day Autograph Session 15 minutes
• IMAX Film 1 hour

  Two Day Visit: Adult Couple or Group

• Space Shuttle Atlantis® with the Shuttle Launch Experience® 90 minutes
• Mission Status Briefing 30 minutes
• Astronaut Encounter 40 minutes
• Astronaut Training Experience® Training Stage Add-on Enhancement 30 minutes

  Two Day Visit: Space Enthusiast

• Space Shuttle Atlantis® with the Shuttle Launch Experience® 2 hours
• Gateway: The Deep Space Launch Complex® featuring Spaceport KSC 90 minutes
• Kennedy Space Center Bus Tour including Apollo/Saturn V Center 2.5 hours
• Heroes and Legends featuring the U.S. Astronaut Hall of Fame® presented by Boeing® 1 hour
• All Systems Are Go! 30 minutes

BONUS Day Three:

• Astronaut Training Experience (ATX)® Add-on Enhancement 5 hours
• NOTE: not included with daily admission nor is it required.

Explore All Attractions

• Entertainment
• Awards Shows
• Climate Change
• Nightlife & Dining
• Gift Guides
• Business of Art
• About Observer
• Advertise With Us

Every Space Tourism Vacation You Can Book Right Now, If You’re Rich

Thinking about the an ultimate quarantine experience we got you covered..

Things aren’t going so great on the planet Earth right now, and travel isn’t easy, but if you’ve got a bit of cash, you can really get away. A number of well-capitalized companies have been hacking away at Space Tourism, or commercially flying “regular” people into space, and now it’s on the verge of reality. Thanks to a great deal of financial and human capital put in by organizations ranging from NASA to billionaire-backed startups , we are inches close to turning it into reality.

Sign Up For Our Daily Newsletter

Thank you for signing up!

By clicking submit, you agree to our <a href="http://observermedia.com/terms">terms of service</a> and acknowledge we may use your information to send you emails, product samples, and promotions on this website and other properties. You can opt out anytime.

Space vacation packages come in a wide variety. For beginners, British billionaire Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic (SPCE) is offering a 1.5-hour joy ride to the edge of the Earth’s atmosphere. NASA is opening the International Space Station to private citizens. And, for hard-core space explorers, Elon Musk’s SpaceX has promised to fly you to the Moon (for a hefty price) in as soon as 2023.

Below we’ve put together the latest statuses of various space tourism projects in the market.

Virgin Galactic’s 90-Minute Suborbital Ride

Destination: Edge of the Earth’s atmosphere

Price: $250,000 per person

Earliest available time: late 2020

Virgin Galactic’s supersonic spaceplane, VSS Unity, will fly passengers up to 100 kilometers (62 miles) above sea level, which is right above the Kármán Line dividing the Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. From there, passengers will get a stunning view of the Earth’s curvature. Then, during the descent, they will experience several minutes of weightlessness like a true astronaut.

VSS Unity has completed two successful human test flights and is in its final stage of testing. Virgin Galactic plans to fly its first paying customer, possibly the company’s founder Richard Branson himself, as soon as this year.

Blue Origin’s Vertical Suborbital Ride

Destination: The edge of the Earth’s atmosphere

Price: $200,000 and $300,000

Earliest available time: unknown

Blue Origin , owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is developing a suborbital tourism program similar to Virgin Galactic’s but using a vertical-takeoff, vertical-landing (VTVL) rocket-capsule system called New Shepard. The New Shepard spacecraft has successfully flown above the Kármán Line and returned to the ground.

Blue Origin had planned to launch its first human test flight in 2019 and begin selling commercial tickets (reportedly priced between $200,000 and $300,000 ) soon after. Yet, the plan was quietly canceled last year. The company has yet to make public statements about new test and rollout dates.

NASA’s Multi-Day ISS Getaway 

Destination: International Space Station

Price: $35,000 per night

In June 2019, NASA unveiled its grand plan to allow private citizens to fly to the International Space Station under the agency’s Commercial Crew Program . Passengers will fly in either SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft or Boeing’s Starliner  vessel.

The Crew Dragon recently completed its final crewed test and is ready to be deployed for commercial missions. NASA has said it will allow up to two private trips to the ISS a year, each lasting up to 30 days. The total cost of the trip would be around $50 million per person, the agency said.

SpaceX’s ‘Back to the Moon’ Package 

Destination: the Moon

Price: “Not a trivial amount’

Earliest available time: 2023

Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX has the ultimate space vacation offering: a personalized trip to the Moon. The package has one committing customer so far: Japanese fashion mogul Yusaku Maezawa , who signed up for the trip in September 2018 and has put down an undisclosed deposit. Musk has said the full ticket price is “not a trivial amount.”

SpaceX is currently building prototypes for the rocket ( Big Falcon Rocket (BFR) rocket ) and spaceship (Starship) that will fly Maezawa to the Moon. If all tests go according to the plan, a human launch could take place as early as 2023.

• SEE ALSO : What Melinda French Gates’s Philanthropy Could Look Like Post-Gates Foundation

We noticed you're using an ad blocker.

We get it: you like to have control of your own internet experience. But advertising revenue helps support our journalism. To read our full stories, please turn off your ad blocker. We'd really appreciate it.

How Do I Whitelist Observer?

Below are steps you can take in order to whitelist Observer.com on your browser:

For Adblock:

Click the AdBlock button on your browser and select Don't run on pages on this domain .

For Adblock Plus on Google Chrome:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Enabled on this site.

For Adblock Plus on Firefox:

Click the AdBlock Plus button on your browser and select Disable on Observer.com.

Space tourism: What are the pros and cons?

Space tourism has its fans — and its critics.

Private companies are offering many opportunities to make the leap off Earth , ranging from a quick suborbital hop to a multi month stay on the International Space Station (ISS). But the advent of the space tourism industry has spurred a vigorous debate: Is it helping to propel humanity to the stars , or is it just letting rich people have a little fun while providing no real value?

Here's a look at the pros and cons of space tourism.

Related: How SpaceShipOne's historic launch 20 years ago paved the way for a new space tourism era

The pros of space tourism

A handful of private individuals, colloquially known as space tourists,  managed to purchase tickets to the ISS or Russia's Mir station. However, with the end of the space shuttle program in 2011, NASA canceled any further opportunities. That picture changed with the emergence of private spaceflight companies headed by various billionaires, including Elon Musk's SpaceX , Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin and Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic .

Of the three, only Virgin Galactic has a stated long-term goal of promoting space tourism, offering quick suborbital flights just above the Kármán line — the arbitrary but internationally recognized edge of space. Paying customers can get a similar experience with Blue Origin, but that company hopes to pivot to orbital industries. With SpaceX, you can get a multiday stay in orbit, but you'll have to bid against numerous government contracts for the opportunity.

Promoters of space tourism have suggested various benefits of the industry. For example, many space tourists are actively running and participating in experiments, such as examining the effects of microgravity on human health , plant growth and material properties. This is real science that needs to be done to propel humanity to the stars.

There's also financial propulsion, with hundreds of millions of dollars of investment going into the newfound industry. Companies are developing new equipment, techniques, technologies and more so they can offer tickets to space. And the more we invest in space in general, the better off our shared ventures will be.

Get the Space.com Newsletter

Breaking space news, the latest updates on rocket launches, skywatching events and more!

The frequent launches of space tourists, including celebrities such as William Shatner , have caught the media by storm. This, in turn, fuels more public interest, which can lead to more discussion, more awareness and more funding.

The cons of space tourism

On the other hand, critics of space tourism point out that the industry is catering solely to exceptionally wealthy individuals. Ironically, this can lead to a sense of public disillusionment with space: Instead of opening it up to everyone, it might cause people to roll their eyes at the inaccessibility. Basically, it's just rich people doing rich-people things.

Because of the enormous cost of a ticket — anywhere from hundreds of thousands to tens of millions of dollars — it's hard for most people to see the value in space tourism as an industry. They simply don't get to participate in it. 

And while some space tourists have conducted experiments during their expeditions, those experiments haven't exactly been revolutionary or consisted of anything that couldn't be done by astronauts on the ISS. So space tourism isn't really advancing human spaceflight in any significant way.

Lastly, space tourism is a niche business. While some companies have developed technologies that are specific to this industry, those technologies will not necessarily transfer to other space-related activities, like industrial or scientific applications. We could be spending all this time, money and resources on a business venture that never grows significantly and never leads to anything else.

The bottom line

The bottom line is that space is hard — it's difficult to get to space, and it's difficult for humans to remain in space for any length of time. Most space tourism companies have folded well before their first attempted launch, and it's not clear that this business niche will grow all that much. Only roughly 60 people have been to space as tourists, and the vast majority of them have gone only on quick suborbital joyrides with a few minutes of weightlessness. 

There are only a few launches, at most, every year dedicated to space tourism, and a peek at planned launch schedules reveals that this number will not change much over the coming years.

— Do space tourists really understand the risk they're taking?

— The rise of space tourism could affect Earth's climate in unforeseen ways, scientists worry

— Most Americans expect routine space tourism by 2073, but few would actually try it  

Most people will never get the opportunity to become a space tourist; it will likely remain a niche industry serving a select set of very wealthy individuals. It's not a game changer in any direction. It will continue to be a component of the overall human interest in space but not a major driver of innovation or expansion.

But hey, if you're ever given the chance, go for it!

Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: [email protected].

Paul M. Sutter is an astrophysicist at SUNY Stony Brook and the Flatiron Institute in New York City. Paul received his PhD in Physics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011, and spent three years at the Paris Institute of Astrophysics, followed by a research fellowship in Trieste, Italy, His research focuses on many diverse topics, from the emptiest regions of the universe to the earliest moments of the Big Bang to the hunt for the first stars. As an "Agent to the Stars," Paul has passionately engaged the public in science outreach for several years. He is the host of the popular "Ask a Spaceman!" podcast, author of "Your Place in the Universe" and "How to Die in Space" and he frequently appears on TV — including on The Weather Channel, for which he serves as Official Space Specialist.

The pieces of NASA's next 3 Artemis moon missions head to Florida launch site (photos)

NASA's solar sail successfully spreads its wings in space

Orion capsule used in abort test 'lands' at University of North Dakota

• GregB03 In its early days aviation was something that only the rich could afford to do. It took a while for it to reach prices that were affordable to the general population . It's early days for commercial space travel. Reply

GregB03 said: In its early days aviation was something that only the rich could afford to do. It took a while for it to reach prices that were affordable to the general population . It's early days for commercial space travel.

Osbert said: If these people were going someplace, I might agree with you but UP and then free-falling, is not a "destination". It's not a destination if you arrive, basically where you started from. Let's start launching people UP and over/out too actually land some place >> because they wanted to get to that/some place. Also, UP and freefall is not space travel. Far from it, lol. It's a fair/carnival ride - period. Nothing but an uncontrollable joy-ride in a tin-can - WEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!

ChrisA said: The Writght brothers were not rich. Their dad was a preacher and they owned a bicycle shop. In the early days, the people in the field were skilled tradesmen. The first passenger to die was a young army officer. But later when aviation was commercialized, yes ticket prices were high

• View All 5 Comments

Most Popular

• 2 'Warm Jupiter' exoplanet 300 light-years away found by amateur astronomers
• 3 Astrophotographer captures Comet C/2023 E1 Atlas in rare encounter with Flying Bat and Squid Nebula
• 4 Astronomers discover oldest known eclipse reference in 6,000-year-old Hindu text
• 5 NASA astronaut Butch Wilmore reports 'strange noise' coming from Boeing's Starliner spacecraft, 'I don't know what's making it'

Private islands and space flights: 9 of the most exclusive travel experiences you can book with points

You don't need me to remind you that points and miles can be used for fancy flights and posh hotel stays.

But did you know that your rewards can land you stays on private islands and potentially even a trip to space ?

Points and miles can do wonders. This post will examine the most exclusive travel experiences your rewards can buy. Not only are these uber-cool experiences, but they offer a decent value for your points, too.

Virgin Galactic flight to space

Hands down, the most unusual redemption you can make is on a drawing to win a trip to space with Virgin Galactic. The price? A cool 2 million Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points. Luckily, the points are only deducted from your account if you win.

Commercial flights launched in June . The trip will be a three-day experience that includes flight preparation and a two-hour space flight with at least five minutes of weightlessness.

Although Flying Club is a transfer partner of all the major transferable points programs— American Express Membership Rewards , Chase Ultimate Rewards , Capital One , Citi ThankYou Rewards , Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards — there's one major restriction. The terms and conditions explicitly state that only points earned on Virgin Atlantic flights qualify for eligibility into the drawing. You also can't transfer points from other members' accounts.

Ticket prices for Virgin Galactic space flights currently start at $450,000, so you'd be getting 22.5 cents in value per point, which is phenomenal. TPG valuations peg Virgin points at 1.5 cents apiece.

Related: You could soon redeem miles for flights to space — here's how

A week at Richard Branson's private island

Of course, a trip to space isn't the only option for those swimming in Virgin points. You can also redeem 540,000 Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points plus $5,400 for a four-night stay for two at Richard Branson's Necker Island .

Necker Island is a 74-acre private-island oasis north of Virgin Gorda and east of Puerto Rico , in the British Virgin Islands. The resort sleeps up to 40 people across 15 total rooms. Amenities include infinity pools, serene relaxation spaces, several bars, elegant dining spaces, lawn games, tennis courts, water sports and a hot tub directly on the beach.

Bookings are restricted to those who have Virgin Atlantic Silver or Gold status, though you may be able to status match to Virgin Atlantic from another airline or hotel program .

Related: Private-island resorts you can book with points

Check in to Etihad's A380 Apartments

The first airline to introduce a single aisle on the A380, Etihad offers first-class "Apartments" with an incredible amount of personal space, allowing you to walk around inside your private space. Each seat in an Apartment consists of a wide armchair and a separate couch that converts into a 6-foot, 10-inch bed.

Nine Apartments alternate between forward- and rear-facing, as well as between being closer to the window and closer to the aisle.

Rows 3 and 4 are ideal if you're traveling with someone, as a partition can be lowered to connect the seats. It doesn't form a true double bed like you can find on Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways, but with the doors closed, it's about as private as you can get in commercial aviation today. First-class passengers can freshen up by taking an onboard shower before landing.

Etihad flies the A380 between Abu Dhabi International Airport (AUH) and Heathrow Airport (LHR). The A380 will also return on the longer route to John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) from April 22, 2024. You can book the Apartments using American Airlines AAdvantage miles for 62,500 miles on the shorter London route or 115,000 miles on the longer New York route.

In the front of the Etihad A380 first-class cabin, where you'd expect to see seats 1A and 1C, is the "Residence" — a three-room megasuite complete with a separate living room, bedroom and bathroom (with a shower, of course). While you cannot book the Residence with points and miles, you can upgrade with cash.

Standard one-way Residence upgrade prices on the New York route will be $4,520 per person.

Stay at the North Island resort in Seychelles

If you're sitting on a large stash of Marriott Bonvoy points , you can use them to stay at the incredible North Island, a Luxury Collection Resort in Seychelles.

You'll get to stay in a two-bedroom villa that covers nearly 5,000 square feet. Your stay will also include complimentary breakfast, use of an island buggy, morning yoga and kids activities.

Award nights cost more than 385,000 Marriott Bonvoy points per night, and the hotel has a four-night minimum stay requirement. This rate also doesn't include the 814 euros ($889) you'd need to pay for a helicopter transfer each way. However, considering cash rates regularly cross $7,000 per night, this could be considered a great value — as long as you have a massive stash of Marriott points.

Related: 17 ways to earn lots of Marriott Bonvoy points

All-inclusive, private Calala Island resort

World of Hyatt members can redeem 35,000 to 45,000 points per night to stay at the uber-exclusive Calala Island resort , assuming you can find award availability.

Calala Island is an all-inclusive, private-island resort located off the coast of Nicaragua. It's so exclusive that it has just four beachfront suites and can only accommodate eight guests at a time.

Room rates regularly top $2,000 per night, so it's an absolute steal with points. Stays include food, drinks, activities and airport transfers.

Related: Here's how to quickly stock up on Hyatt points for your next vacation

Shower on board in Emirates first class

There aren't any ways to redeem points and miles for private jet travel , but Emirates first class is the next best thing.

Unfortunately, it's gotten more expensive to book these awards. Emirates stopped releasing first-class award space to most partner programs and subsequently made these redemptions more expensive through its own frequent flyer program . However, you can still book these awards through Emirates Skywards , Qantas Frequent Flyer or Air Canada Aeroplan .

If you want to experience gold-studded suites and onboard showers and bars , you'll want to fly on Emirates' flagship A380 aircraft. If modern sports car-inspired interiors are more your style, opt for Emirates' newer 777-300ER planes with the "Game Changer" fully enclosed suites . No matter what plane you end up on, you'll enjoy Emirates' same top-notch food and drinks (including caviar and Dom Perignon) and service.

Emirates generally charges lower redemption rates than Qantas or Air Canada, with first-class flights between John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) and Dubai International Airport (DXB) costing 136,500 miles each way. You can transfer points to Emirates from all six major transferable points programs: Chase Ultimate Rewards, Amex Membership Rewards, Citi ThankYou Rewards, Capital One, Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards.

Related: The best programs for booking Emirates awards

Air France's La Premiere first class

Another top-notch first-class product is Air France's La Premiere , available exclusively on some of the carrier's 777-300ERs. The cabin features just four seats across a single row, making it one of the smallest and most exclusive cabins in the sky.

La Premiere seats are elegant and private, featuring an individual lamp at every seat and floor-to-ceiling curtain dividers. The food is world-class, and the ground experience is unparalleled; passengers get chauffeured from an ultraluxe first-class lounge and the plane in a private car.

Unfortunately, this product is extremely hard to book with miles. To book La Premiere awards with miles, you must hold Air France-KLM Flying Blue Gold or Platinum elite status. Further, eligible elite members can only redeem at the "flex" level (not saver), so a one-way ticket between the U.S. and Europe will cost at least 220,000 miles.

If you're eligible to book these awards, you can transfer points to Flying Blue from Amex Membership Rewards, Capital One, Citi ThankYou, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Marriott Bonvoy and Bilt Rewards.

Related: Bucket list achieved: Reviewing Air France's incredibly hard-to-book La Premiere first class

Double beds in Singapore's first-class suites

If you're traveling with a significant other, you can't beat Singapore Airlines' A380 suites .

Each suite features an impressive 50 square feet and contains not just a reclinable armchair but an entirely separate bed. If you're traveling with someone, you can combine two suites to create a double bed and have up to 100 square feet of space.

Singapore doesn't release first-class award space to partner programs, but it does make it available through its own KrisFlyer frequent flyer program. Suites flights start at 86,000 miles between New York's JFK and Frankfurt Airport (FRA).

It's easy to get your hands on KrisFlyer miles since the program is a partner of American Express Membership Rewards, Chase Ultimate Rewards, Citi ThankYou and Capital One.

Related: How to book Singapore Airlines first-class Suites with points and miles

Luxurious Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties

You can earn and redeem Marriott Bonvoy points at Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties . Previously, the brand did not participate in the loyalty program.

Ritz-Carlton Reserve is one of Marriott's most exclusive brands, with just five properties worldwide in locations such as Japan and Thailand. It's a step above the standard Ritz-Carlton brand, emphasizing luxury, tranquility and sustainability. The properties are intimate, each composed of 50 to 115 rooms, and are in remote locations.

Award stays generally range from 80,000 to 240,000 points per night. Although steep, the cash rates at these hotels are often north of $800 per night. As with other Marriott Bonvoy award stays, you can get a fifth night free for every four consecutive nights you book with points.

Related: You can now earn and redeem Marriott Bonvoy points at Ritz-Carlton Reserve properties

Bottom line

You can redeem points and miles for some truly luxurious flights and hotel stays that would normally cost tens of thousands of dollars.

With a few large sign-up bonuses and being strategic with your spending, an extravagant first-class flight or trip to a private island could be within reach.

And who knows, you might just win the drawing for a trip to space.

Editorial disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airline or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.

• Learning resources
• Plan a field trip
• Reserve a Group Program
• Holt Scholars Program
• Tips and Guidelines
• Professional development
• Professional development sessions
• Teacher Innovator Institute
• Anytime Expeditions
• Education monthly theme

The National Air and Space Museum welcomes learners of all ages to make face to face connections with aviation and spaceflight history. 

Tips for a Memorable Field Trip

1. Every learner deserves to have an exciting, educational museum experience. Consider splitting large groups into smaller ones of 10-12 people.

2. To best explore, bring only essential gear that you can carry (lockers are not available at our National Mall location). Wear comfortable walking shoes.

3. Be safe. Learners of all ages must remain with a chaperone at all times.

4. Be respectful. Use indoor voices and set cell phones to silent mode. 

5. Be curious. Check out our Visit resources for activities and ideas for learners of all ages.

6. End the experience positively. Designate a meeting location for reassembling before departing together. 

Guidelines for Groups

Be safe. Learners of all ages must remain with chaperones at all times. Student-chaperone rations are: 

• Pre-K through 3rd Grade: 1 adult for every 5 students
• 4th through 6th Grade: 1 adult for every 10 students
• 7th through 12th Grade: 1 adult for every 15 students

Please note that chaperones are to be included in total group count. 

Adults should not have their own infant our young child with them in addition to serving as a group chaperone. 

Ensure everyone has a positive experience by remaining with your group at all times and helping them remember to:

• Be safe. Running, rough-housing, and climbing on exhibit structures are not permitted.
• Be polite. Use indoor voices and set all cell phones to silent mode.
• Be considerate. Food, drink, and gum are not allowed in the galleries.
• Be respectful of Museum artifacts and the building.

Adult chaperones make field trips better, but there is no substitute for teachers. 

We encourage class leads to check in with all groups during their visit to support chaperones in managing students. 

Outside food and drink, other than bottled water, are not permitted inside the galleries. The Museum in Washington, DC does not have space available for groups to eat outside food within the Museum. The Udvar-Hazy Center has seating for groups behind the lockers on the second level. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. Groups may also use the picnic tables located near the bus parking lot, outside the Museum. 

All bags/backpacks will be checked by Security. Please limit the number of bags brought into the museum to help expedite your entry.

If you are reserving programming for your field trip group, please note: 

Group Size: Groups must be 10 or more.

Advance Notice: Reservations must be made at least three weeks in advanced.

Cancellation:

All reserved museum tours and programs are free and supported by staff and volunteers. 

We ask that groups who need to cancel a reservation, or expect to arrive later than planned, email us.  

If reserved groups do not alert Museum staff to a cancellation at least 24 hours in advance, your group may not be allowed to reserve future programs.

Thank you. You have successfully signed up for our newsletter.

Error message, sorry, there was a problem. please ensure your details are valid and try again..

• Get Involved
• Host an Event
• Free Timed-Entry Passes Required
• Terms of Use

Screen Rant

10 biggest sci-fi books coming out in september 2024.

Your changes have been saved

Email is sent

Email has already been sent

Please verify your email address.

You’ve reached your account maximum for followed topics.

10 Great Sci-Fi Books For Beginners

10 underrated sci-fi books that should be on everyone's radar, 10 best sci-fi tv shows of the 1970s.

Sci-fi is a beloved part of speculative fiction, and the contemporary authors taking on the genre have pushed boundaries in their upcoming work. The new sci-fi book releases for September 2024 all demonstrate the diversity and ingenuity that has been a hallmark of science fiction since its earliest examples in the literary canon. Though sci-fi is considered only to include vivid space operas or dystopian futures, there is a broader range of stories than many readers realize. However, this doesn't mean that the latest stories set on distant planets with terrifying technologies aren't part of the newest batch of works.

Great sci-fi reflects the issues and important topics of the real world, whether the narratives are set in the far future or include impossible abilities and technologies.

Science fiction can incorporate many different genres into its story, with books that blend sci-fi and fantasy or even books that blend sci-fi and romance . Most speculative fiction blurs the line between genre types, as this opens the door for more compelling stories. Great sci-fi reflects the issues and important topics of the real world, whether the narratives are set in the far future or include impossible abilities and technologies. This makes the mark of a great new addition to the sci-fi literary canon, fresh, unique, and willing to explore vital subject matter through gripping plots.

The sci-fi genre is for everyone, but for readers who have trouble getting into these stories, there are plenty of great books to start with.

10 The Fallen Fruit

Release date: september 3, 2024.

The author of the upcoming sci-fi novel The Fallen Fruit , Shawntelle Madison, has been publishing science fiction, fantasy, and romance books for many years to great acclaim. Her latest project combines historical fantasy with time travel as the protagonist, Cecily Bridge-Davis, belongs to a family whose members have a habit of being whisked away to the past. When this happens to Cecily, she must cling to her knowledge of history, which won't be difficult as a history professor, and find a way to connect with the new people around her.

Meeting her ancestors across time influences how Cecily views the family curse and shows her the importance of connecting with the past to inform the future.

The Fallen Fruit centers on the experiences of Black Americans throughout U.S. history and doesn't shy away from grappling with harsh truths of discrimination and violence that accompany this. However, the spirit of Cecily's family and her incredible capacity for love and understanding fuels her in her darkest moments. Meeting her ancestors across time influences how Cecily views the family curse and shows her the importance of connecting with the past to inform the future.

9 Edge Of The Known World

Sheri T. Joseph's debut novel, Edge of the Known World , has already cultivated excitement and acclaim by winning several accolades at the 2024 American Fiction Awards. The story follows Alexandra Tashen, whose worldview is shattered when she discovers that she isn't who she thought she was and that her place in her bubble of safety is on thin ice. Alexandra was spirited away from the Federation at a young age and raised in the Allied Nations.

However, there's a chance that a tiny gene marker will give her away and potentially end her life. Not content to sit around waiting, Alexandra risks her life to find her missing father and uncover the secrets of not only her past but also her father's. In the middle of her risky adventure that hinges on her genes going undetected, Alexandra finds herself drawn to two different men who could make or break her situation.

8 Out Of The Drowning Deep

The story kicks off with the murder of a pope and the terrifying prospect of the religious order, the Drowned Sisters, coming to the planet where the crime was committed.

High fantasy mixes with sci-fi in Out of the Drowning Deep , much like how the lines between gods, mortals, and technology blur in A.C. Wise's new novella. The story kicks off with the murder of a pope and the terrifying prospect of the religious order, the Drowned Sisters, coming to the planet where the crime was committed. It comes down to Scribe IV, Quin, and Angel to use their different skill sets and rich histories to solve the case before innocents are punished in place of the real perpetrator.

Full of fantastic queer representation and a broad range of voices within the cast of characters, Out of the Drowning Deep makes each perspective relatable to audiences. Though there's plenty of religious imagery and themes throughout the work, it doesn't alienate its audience. It opens the door for many belief systems to have their place within the story. As much a murder mystery as it is a work of science fiction, Out of the Drowning Deep is richly textured and easy to imagine.

7 The Life Impossible

Author of The Midnight Library , Matt Haig, will likely continue his streak of success with The Life Impossible . His new novel follows the journey of Grace Winters, who leaves behind her quiet life in search of answers about the disappearance of a friend she hasn't heard from in years. She travels to the Mediterranean and finds herself on a gorgeous but curious island, and Haig's beautiful descriptions of the landscape are enough to engage any reader.

It's always refreshing when a book is written from the perspective of an older character, as Grace's age and life experience inform much of her actions. Grace's story has a warm and inviting message inside of it that will leave the reader filled with hope by the end of The Life Impossible . Though the book is lightly science fiction with paranormal events and supernatural powers that lean into magical realism as well, it's a great example of an introductory piece of speculative fiction.

6 Megacosmic Rift

The fourth book in the Torth series, Megacosmic Rift , follows through on the promise to increase the epic action-packed adventure tenfold from the other works. Throughout the series, the characters in Torth have fought against the evil and all-powerful Torth Empire, and the third book, The World of Wreckage , saw Ariock and Thomas deal their biggest blow yet to the Torth. Megacosmic Rift catches up with them in the aftermath of this fight as they try to fan the flames of their growing revolution.

Megacosmic Rift is everything a reader would want out of a space opera, as the fourth installment sees an ancient prophecy finally come to fruition.

Megacosmic Rift is everything a reader would want out of a space opera, as the fourth installment sees an ancient prophecy finally come to fruition. Though it seems all hope is lost for Ariock and Thomas as they drift through space with little semblance of a plan, Abby Goldsmith pens an exciting and unbelievable continuation of their story. If the characters can learn to trust each other, the future might be brighter than they anticipated.

5 Under The Eye Of The Big Bird

Hiromi Kawakami's new novel, Under the Eye of the Big Bird , was translated into English by Asa Yoneda, but none of the grace and fluidity of the original text is lost in the work. Kawakami has written in a variety of genres, but her latest project delves into the world of sci-fi with amazing results. In conversation with the very real climate catastrophes that the world is facing, Under the Eye of the Big Bird takes place during the final age of humanity, when the human race may no longer be able to keep evolving.

With interweaving vignettes that balance discussions of technology and the changing world with lush descriptions of nature and its importance, Under the Eye of the Big Bird is a seminal work from Kawakami. Though Kawakami holds the reader at a distance from the characters with a story that spans generations and keeps its timelines nebulous, it's still impossible not to care for the people in the book. The somewhat fragmented approach to the story allows Kawakami to paint a full picture of her imagined future.

4 Sky Full Of Elephants

Release date: september 10, 2024.

Hilarious, poignant, and sharply original, Sky Full of Elephants is one of the most exciting releases of September.

History is transformed in Sky Full of Elephants , Cebo Campbell's debut novel that comes on the heels of great acclaim in the world of literary awards. However, as his first full-length novel, Campbell has knocked it out of the park once again, looking critically at race, class, and gender in an extreme example of a post-racial world. In Sky Full of Elephants , all the white people in the world disappear, and the story follows the experiences of the Black American, Charlie Brunton.

From there, he reconnects with his teenage daughter, Sidney, who had been raised by her white mother and knows little about Charlie or his world. Both learning about each other and the new way the world works, Charlie and Sidney dig into their roots and the legacy of Blackness in the U.S. while trying to rebuild their bond. Hilarious, poignant, and sharply original, Sky Full of Elephants is one of the most exciting releases of September.

3 This World Is Not Yours

This World Is Not Yours is a book that perfectly blends sci-fi and horror by Kemi Ashing-Giwa and looks at the contemporary dynamics of LGBTQ+ relationships amid a terrifying survival situation. The protagonist, Amara, is among a group of colonizing humans on an alien planet with her fiancée Vinh and old friend, Jesse. The dynamic between the three people comes into play throughout the story, and the character relationships are just as compelling as the secrets of the planet.

Touching on themes of sexuality, colonialism, environmentalism, and self-preservation, This World Is Not Yours tackles a lot in its fast-paced novella format. Much of the work is reminiscent of Ursula K. Le Guin's best books , as the iconic sci-fi writer explored similar story motifs. The descriptions of the foreign planet and the human's unstable place on it are gorgeously written, and the reader never loses their sense of place while reading the book.

2 The Escher Man

Release date: september 17, 2024.

The Escher Man is T.R. Napper's latest sci-fi-fi work, and it includes just as much action and gore as any of his other work. The story chronicles the fragmented memory and life of Endel "Endgame" Ebbinghaus, a man who makes his living as a violent enforcer for a cartel but remembers a different past with a loving family. However, in the world of The Escher Man , memories can't be trusted, and Endel can't be certain whose side he's really on.

Endel's fear of being trapped inside his own mind is played out brilliantly on the page.

Incorporating imagery and themes of cyberpunk and plenty of violence, The Escher Man is a thriller and a mind game for the characters and reader rolled into one. Reading The Escher Man transports the audience into an unknown world, but the feelings and anxieties of Endel, a man trying to get back to his real life, will connect with any reader. Endel's fear of being trapped inside his own mind is played out brilliantly on the page.

Sci-fi books like Dune or 1984 have remained memorable and highly praised for years, but there are some novels that don't get enough attention.

Release Date: September 24, 2024

Michael Mammay's latest installment in the Planetside series, Darkside , returns to the world and story of Colonel Carl Butler as he's wrenched from retirement for a noble cause. The novel sees Butler back at his old tricks, not for some interplanetary government, but because a child's father has gone missing. In the fast-paced world of the Planetside series, anyone could be whisked away to a far corner of the galaxy, but Butler's just the man to track them down.

Darkside is one of the many incredible sci-fi books that are more fiction than science , but this doesn't mean that Butler's story isn't just as action-packed. Butler travels to the moon Taug, which is home to many mining operations, and is joined by his familiar sidekick, Mac. Politics and scandals erupt around Butler and Mac, but they remain fiercely dedicated to finding the man they set out to rescue, even if the corrupt corporations on Taug have other plans for them. With elements of space archeology, the novel sees Butler explore a new part of the universe.

Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel

Account Subscription: ACTIVE

Questions about your account? Our customer service team can be reached at [email protected] during business hours at (207) 791-6000 .

• Local & State
• Food & Dining
• Things to Do

Skowhegan Craft Brew Festival set for Saturday

The celebration of local beer and other products is expected to draw people from around the country to sample beverages from 24 Maine producers.

You are able to gift 5 more articles this month.

Anyone can access the link you share with no account required. Learn more .

With a Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel subscription, you can gift 5 articles each month.

It looks like you do not have any active subscriptions. To get one, go to the subscriptions page .

Loading....

A crowd gathers Sept. 2, 2023, along the Kennebec River, behind Water Street businesses, for the Skowhegan Craft Brew Festival in downtown Skowhegan. Morning Sentinel file

SKOWHEGAN — Beer lovers from around the country are expected to head to Skowhegan on Saturday for the town’s annual Labor Day weekend brew festival.

The Skowhegan Craft Brew Festival is set to feature more than 100 Maine-made craft beers, wines, ciders and spirits from 24 beverage producers, along with local food vendors and four musical acts, according to an announcement from the event’s organizer, the nonprofit organization Main Street Skowhegan.

The festival, which began in 2016, is expected to draw people from Maine, 13 other states and Canada, according to the announcement. So far, people from as far away from Texas, Arizona and Nevada have bought tickets, the organization said.

“We’re thrilled to draw people from near and far to Skowhegan for our annual brew festival,” Kristina Cannon, president and CEO of Main Street Skowhegan, said in the statement. “Not only do events showcase our growing community and all that we have to offer visitors, but they also bring people to town who spend money at our locally owned businesses. Brew fest, in particular, brings people back again and again to our community.”

Sign up for the weekly “Skowhegan Now” newsletter

Tickets are required to attend the brew festival, and can be purchased online at skowhegancraftbrewfest.com . A $50 general admission ticket includes unlimited beverage samples from 3 to 7 p.m. and a souvenir tasting glass. “Designated driver” tickets for those who do not wish to drink alcohol are $10.

Ticket prices increase by $5 the day of the festival, so organizers suggest buying tickets by 6 p.m. Friday. Advertisement

A “VIP hour” at 2 p.m., featuring free food samples, other goodies and live entertainment, is sold out.

The brew festival is to be held along the Kennebec River in downtown Skowhegan, where the event moved last year from its previous location on Water Street .

Skowhegan Craft Brew Festival draws hundreds of beer drinkers to new location

Organizers said last year that the move was intended to help promote ongoing economic revitalization efforts along the town’s waterfront, including the planned River Park. Other events, such as the annual River Fest in August , are intended to achieve that goal, too.

With a contractor on board and the permitting process in its final stages, construction of the in-river whitewater park portion of the overall development is expected to begin in spring 2025 , Cannon said recently.

Construction of Skowhegan whitewater River Park delayed until 2025

Main Street Skowhegan uses proceeds from the brew festival to support its ongoing economic development efforts, according to organizers. The event is sponsored by more than a dozen local businesses and organizations.

The festival is expected to take place no matter the weather. As of Thursday, the National Weather Service was predicting mostly cloudy skies in Skowhegan on Saturday, with high temperatures in the mid-70s, and a 50% chance of rain showers after 2 p.m.

Related Headlines

We invite you to add your comments, and we encourage a thoughtful, open and lively exchange of ideas and information on this website. By joining the conversation, you are agreeing to our commenting policy and terms of use . You can also read our FAQs . You can modify your screen name here .

Readers may now see a Top Comments tab, which is an experimental software feature to detect and highlight comments that demonstrate compassion, reasoning, personal stories and curiosity, and encourage and promote civil discourse.

Join the Conversation

Please sign into your CentralMaine.com account to participate in conversations below. If you do not have an account, you can register or subscribe . Questions? Please see our FAQs .

Your commenting screen name has been updated.

Send questions/comments to the editors.

Member Log In

Please enter your username and password below. Already a subscriber but don't have one? Click here .

Not a subscriber? Click here to see your options

Advertisement

Where Kamala Harris Stands on the Issues: Abortion, Immigration and More

She wants to protect the right to abortion nationally. Here’s what else to know about her positions.

• Share full article

By Maggie Astor

• Published July 21, 2024 Updated Aug. 24, 2024

With Vice President Kamala Harris having replaced President Biden on the Democratic ticket, her stances on key issues will be scrutinized by both parties and the nation’s voters.

She has a long record in politics: as district attorney of San Francisco, as attorney general of California, as a senator, as a presidential candidate and as vice president.

Here is an overview of where she stands.

Ms. Harris supports legislation that would protect the right to abortion nationally, as Roe v. Wade did before it was overturned in 2022, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization.

After the Dobbs ruling, she became central to the Biden campaign’s efforts to keep the spotlight on abortion, given that Mr. Biden — with his personal discomfort with abortion and his support for restrictions earlier in his career — was a flawed messenger. In March, she made what was believed to be the first official visit to an abortion clinic by a president or vice president.

She consistently supported abortion rights during her time in the Senate, including cosponsoring legislation that would have banned common state-level restrictions, like requiring doctors to perform specific tests or have hospital admitting privileges in order to provide abortions.

As a presidential candidate in 2019, she argued that states with a history of restricting abortion rights in violation of Roe should be subject to what is known as pre-clearance for new abortion laws — those laws would have to be federally approved before they could take effect. That proposal is not viable now that the Supreme Court has overturned Roe.

Climate change

Ms. Harris has supported the Biden administration’s climate efforts , including legislation that provided hundreds of billions of dollars in tax credits and rebates for renewable energy and electric vehicles.

“It is clear the clock is not just ticking, it is banging,” she said in a speech last year , referring to increasingly severe and frequent disasters spurred by climate change. “And that is why, one year ago, President Biden and I made the largest climate investment in America’s history.”

During her 2020 presidential campaign, she emphasized the need for environmental justice , a framework that calls for policies to address the adverse effects that climate change has on poor communities and people of color. She has emphasized that as vice president as well.

In 2019, Ms. Harris, then a senator, and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Democrat of New York, introduced legislation that would have evaluated environmental rules and laws by how they affected low-income communities. It would have also established an independent Office of Climate and Environmental Justice Accountability and created a “senior adviser on climate justice” within several federal agencies. In 2020, Ms. Harris introduced a more sweeping version of the bill. None of the legislation was passed.

Ms. Harris was tasked with leading the Biden administration’s efforts to secure voting rights legislation, a job she asked for . The legislation — which went through several iterations but was ultimately blocked in the Senate — would have countered voting restrictions in Republican-led states, limited gerrymandering and regulated campaign finance more strictly.

This year, she met with voting rights advocates and described a strategy that included creating a task force on threats to election workers and challenging state voting restrictions in court.

She has condemned former President Donald J. Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election results. In a speech in 2022 marking the anniversary of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, she said that day had showed “what our nation would look like if the forces who seek to dismantle our democracy are successful.” She added, “What was at stake then, and now, is the right to have our future decided the way the Constitution prescribes it: by we the people, all the people.”

Economic policy

In campaign events this year, Ms. Harris has promoted the Biden administration’s economic policies, including the infrastructure bill that Mr. Biden signed, funding for small businesses, a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that capped the cost of insulin for people on Medicare and student debt forgiveness.

She indicated at an event in May that the administration’s policies to combat climate change would also bring economic benefits by creating jobs in the renewable energy industry. At another event , she promoted more than $100 million in Energy Department grants for auto parts manufacturers to pivot to electric vehicles, which she said would “help to keep our auto supply chains here in America.”

As a senator, she introduced legislation that would have provided a tax credit of up to $6,000 for middle- and low-income families, a proposal she emphasized during her presidential campaign as a way to address income inequality.

Immigration

One of Ms. Harris’s mandates as vice president has been to address the root causes of migration from Latin America, like poverty and violence in migrants’ home countries. Last year, she announced $950 million in pledges from private companies to support Central American communities. Similar commitments made previously totaled about $3 billion.

In 2021, she visited the U.S.-Mexico border and said : “This issue cannot be reduced to a political issue. We’re talking about children, we’re talking about families, we are talking about suffering.”

More recently, she backed a bipartisan border security deal that Mr. Biden endorsed but Mr. Trump, by urging Republican lawmakers to kill it , effectively torpedoed. The legislation would have closed the border if crossings reached a set threshold, and it would have funded thousands of new border security agents and asylum officers. “We are very clear, and I think most Americans are clear, that we have a broken immigration system and we need to fix it,” Ms. Harris said in March .

Israel and Gaza

Ms. Harris called in March for an “immediate cease-fire” in Gaza and described the situation there as a “humanitarian catastrophe.” She said that “the threat Hamas poses to the people of Israel must be eliminated” but also that “too many innocent Palestinians have been killed.”

In an interview later that month , she emphasized her opposition to an Israeli invasion of Rafah, the city in southern Gaza to which more than a million people had fled. “I have studied the maps,” she said. “There’s nowhere for those folks to go, and we’re looking at about 1.5 million people in Rafah who are there because they were told to go there, most of them.”

She has said on multiple occasions that she supports a two-state solution.

Racial justice

Racial justice was a theme of Ms. Harris’s presidential campaign. In a memorable debate exchange in 2019 , she denounced Mr. Biden’s past work with segregationist senators and opposition to school busing mandates.

She has called for ending mandatory minimum sentences, cash bail and the death penalty, which disproportionately affect people of color.

Amid the protests that followed the police killing of George Floyd in 2020, she was one of the senators who introduced the Justice in Policing Act, which would have made it easier to prosecute police officers, created a national registry of police misconduct and required officers to complete training on racial profiling. It was not passed.

Her record as a prosecutor also came into play during her presidential campaign. Critics noted that as attorney general of California, she had generally avoided stepping in to investigate police killings.

Maggie Astor covers politics for The New York Times, focusing on breaking news, policies, campaigns and how underrepresented or marginalized groups are affected by political systems. More about Maggie Astor