July 10, 2006; Posted 11:09 a.m. (CDT)
Space tourism isn't necessarily out of the question, if you're interested. A seat on a Russian space craft normally costs a cool $20 million.
But soon, you might have the option of using a "discount carrier" to travel toward outer space.
Dennis Tito is the World's First Space Tourist. He got his joy ride back in 2001 on board a Russian Soyuz Spacecraft that docked with the International Space Station.
The California money manager spent $20 million for his space vacation. But what if you don't have that kind of money for your ticket to ride? A suborbital flight might be the answer.
Suborbital travelers would fly 62 miles above the earth to the edge of space. Passengers will experience weightlessness, see the curvature of the earth and be able to gaze into the dark, star-filled sky.
British billionaire Sir Richard Branson is banking on a lot of pent-up demand.
"Of all the businesses I've started, this is by far and away the most exciting."
His new company, Virgin Galactic, is already taking reservations for suborbital flights from the paying public.
For $200,000, you're promised a three-hour flight, with several minutes of weightlessness. And you can float around the cabin if you want to. The first flights are scheduled for the end of this decade.
"Right now we're going to be building bigger versions of SpaceShipOne ... capable of taking seven or eight people into space on every trip," says Branson.
Branson is teaming up with Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen and Aviation Pioneer Burt Rutan.
He designed SpaceShipOne, the first successful privately manned spacecraft. And they're not the only billionaires vying for your space tourist dollar.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos is funding a super-secret commercial space venture called "Blue Origin, LLC."
Its stated goal: To develop "safe, inexpensive and reliable human access to space."
A company called "Rocketplane Limited," based in Oklahoma City, is also offering suborbital flights as is "Space Adventures," the company that put Dennis Tito into space.
$200,000 is still a lot of money, but as demand increases, analysts say prices will come down.
