How SpaceX’s Starship will handle Space Tourism?

Recreational space travel on established government-owned vehicles such as the Russian Soyuz and the International Space Station (ISS) or vehicles operated by private corporations is referred to as space tourism.

Space tourism has received new popularity after the voyage of the world’s first space tourist, American businessman Dennis Tito, on April 28, 2001, as additional suborbital and orbital tourism options have become accessible.

So, In this article we will discuss How SpaceX’s Starship will handle Space Tourism?

Space tourism in orbit

With a partnership between the Russian business MirCorp and the American company Space Adventures Ltd, space tourism became a reality at the end of the 1990s. MirCorp was a for-profit corporation in control of the Mir space station. MirCorp decided to sell a trip to Mir to raise money for upkeep of the old space station, and Tito was the first paying passenger.

However, before Tito could complete his journey, the decision was taken to deorbit Mir, and the mission was rerouted to the International Space Station (ISS) thanks to the involvement of Space Adventures Ltd.

Tito, who paid $20 million for his trip aboard the Russian spacecraft Soyuz TM-32, spent seven days on the International Space Station and is known as the world’s first space tourist.

Tito, however, objected to the term “tourist” being used to describe his trip, and since his journey, the phrase spaceflight participant” has become more commonly used to separate commercial space tourists from career astronauts.

Following Tito’s voyage, orbital space tourism grew, with visits to the International Space Station by South African computer entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth in 2002 and American businessman Gregory Olsen in 2005.

When Iranian-born American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari visited the International Space Station in September 2006, she became the fourth spaceflight participant and the first female fee-paying space tourist. The next year, millionaire Charles Simonyi of the United States joined the ranks of spaceflight pioneers.

Related: Environmental Impact of Commercial Space Tourism

Tourism in space at a suborbital altitude

Although the orbital space tourism sector received a lot of press after Tito’s trip, other firms were working hard to make space tourism a lucrative proposition by constructing suborbital vehicles that could transport people to an altitude of 100 kilometres (62 miles).

The businesses were vying for the Ansari X Prize, a $10 million prize awarded by the X Prize Foundation to the first nongovernmental group to launch a reusable crewed spacecraft into orbit twice in less than two weeks. 

Amir Ansari, an American entrepreneur of Iranian descent.) SpaceShipOne, sponsored by Virgin Galactic and created by Scaled Composites’ American engineer Burt Rutan, won the X Prize on October 4, 2004, ushering in a new age of commercial crewed spaceflight and space tourism.

Under the authority of the Federal Aviation Administration, the U.S. In 2004, the Consular Space Launch Modifications Act  was approved, establishing safety criteria for commercial human spaceflight in the United States.

The FAA will attend every launch, analyse every landing, and collaborate with space tourism operators under the CSLAA; nevertheless, the FAA will not be able to enforce any safety requirements until 2023, unless there is a significant mishap.

According to the standards, space tourism operators must tell spaceflight participants in writing on the hazards of launch and return, as well as the launch vehicle’s safety record. Participants in spaceflight must also offer informed consent to participate in launch and reentry, according to the  rules.

It is impossible for the FAA to supervise how businesses construct their spacecraft or examine the safety of launching spaceflight participants into space at this early stage in the development of the suborbital space tourism sector.

Also read: Lunar Economy: A complete information about new moon race

Increasing Demand

Last week, SpaceX successfully launched four space tourists on a three-day joyride around the Earth in its Crew Dragon spaceship, causing demand to skyrocket, according to the firm.

The number of individuals approaching us through our sales and marketing portals has really climbed dramatically, said Benji Reed, the company’s senior director of human spaceflight projects, during a news conference on Saturday, according to Ars Technica.

Even more intriguing, Reed claims that the company’s much larger spaceship Starship could be used to launch tourists, a substantial advance that would allow much more people to take an incredibly costly journey to space.

Then there’s Starship, which is, of course, on the horizon. He went on to say that the starship will be able to transport a lot more people at once. So, you know, both possibilities exist, and we have interest in both Dragons and Starships, which is quite exciting.

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