Space Tourism

Virgin Galactic has hit a small speed bump as it continues testing of its spaceplane at its Spaceport America base in New Mexico, with the latest outing for SpaceShipTwo Unity brought to a premature end due to rocket failure.

A serious-looking consortium of businesses is trying to position Japan as the first Asian space tourism hub, by proposing a futuristic, floating "Spaceport Japan" from which services like Virgin Galactic can operate their sub-orbital joyrides.

RSC Energia and Space Adventures, Inc plan to fly two tourists to the Russian section of the International Space Station in 2023, with one of them embarking on a space walk with a cosmonaut during the short visit.

In recent years, people have used balloons to carry items ranging from teddy bears to chicken sandwiches to the edge of outer space. Now, Florida-based startup Space Perspective has announced plans to do the same thing with paying human passengers.

Virgin Galactic is further expanding its scope of space-faring services, today signing a new agreement with NASA that will see it prepare private astronauts for trips to the International Space Station.

Space Adventures has announced that it has signed an agreement with SpaceX to fly paying passengers aboard the aerospace company's Crew Dragon spacecraft, which will mark the first time that space tourists will be launched aboard an American rocket.

Virgin Galactic has become the first passenger-carrying spaceflight company to be publicly traded. Shares of new Virgin Galactic Holdings company were bought and sold on the New York Stock exchange on October 28, 2019, under the stock ticker SPCE.

Virgin Galactic has unveiled its new line of "spacewear" to be worn by the company's first commercial astronauts at a New York catwalk event where Sir Richard Branson sported the outfit he will wear for the company's inaugural commercial spaceflight.

Virgin Galactic got a fiscal boost today as Boeing announced that it is investing US$20 million in the spaceflight company.

Virgin Galactic has declared its Gateway to Space building at Spaceport America "operationally functional" as company officials unveiled the interior of the facility that will act as both Mission Control and the departure/arrival lounge for space tourists.

​​If Elon Musk’s palms were sweaty during any SpaceX rocket launches of late, just imagine eight famous cultural icons were strapped in for the ride. "We will be doing everything we possibly can to make sure that is a good flight," the CEO said today, and not in a hypothetical sense.

​SpaceX is forging ahead with its plans to launch tourists into space, today announcing that it has signed a contract with an unknown individual who will become the world’s first private passenger to fly around the Moon.