Will We Take Vacations In Space?

By Dan Cray

When Mike Kelly first set out to build his own private space-ferry service, he figured his bread-and-butter business would be lofting satellites into high-Earth orbit. Now he thinks he may have figured wrong. "People were always asking me when they could go," says Kelly, who runs Kelly Space & Technology out of San Bernardino, Calif. "I realized the real market is in space tourism."

According to preliminary market surveys, there are 10,000 would-be space tourists willing to spend $1 million each to visit the final frontier. Space Adventures in Arlington, Va., has taken more than 130 deposits for a two-hour, $98,000 space tour tentatively (and somewhat dubiously) set to occur by 2005. Says Gene Meyers of the Space Island Group: "Space is the next exotic vacation spot."

This may all sound great, but there are a few hurdles. Putting a simple satellite into orbit--with no oxygen, life support or return trip necessary--already costs an astronomical $10,000 per lb. And that doesn't include the cost of insuring rich and possibly litigious passengers. John Pike of the Federation of American Scientists acerbically suggests the entire group of entrepreneurs trying to corner the space-tourism market have between them "just enough money to blow up one rocket."

NASA has plenty of money but zero interest in making space less expensive for the little guys. So the little guys are racing to do what NASA has failed to do: design a reusable launch system that's inexpensive, safe and reliable. Kelly Space's prototype looks like a plane that has sprouted rocket engines. Rotary Rocket in Redwood City, Calif., has a booster with rotors to make a helicopter-style return to Earth; Kistler Aerospace in Kirkland, Wash., is piecing together its version from old Soviet engines, shuttle-style thermal protection tiles and an elaborate parachute system. The first passenger countdowns are still years away, but bureaucrats at the Federal Aviation Administration in Washington are already informally discussing flight regulations. After all, you can't be too prepared for a trip to that galaxy far, far away.

For those who are intent on joining the 100-mile-high club, Hilton and Budget are plotting to build space hotels, and an Amsterdam outfit is talking about using Russia's old and battered Mir as a decidedly low-rent celestial motel--although if you're thinking of staying on Mir, you may want to check the Michelin ratings before booking yourself a suite.

--By Dan Cray