Chapter 3

The Contemporary Insignificance of Space Tourism

Dirk C. Gibson

Abstract

A systematic analysis of the published literature on commercial space tourism resulted in the identification of ten major factors indicative of the relative insignificance of this industry and the tourist activity at the present time. Initially, there has been a severely limited number of space tourists, with only a few pioneers to date. There is currently little space tourism activity, and there is no contemporary space tourism industry. Presently there is an inadequate space tourism infrastructure. The space tourism market remains unproven. Contemporary space transportation technology inadequacy limits space access. Historically, most commercial space ventures have failed. The American space access gap was documented, as the retirement of the space shuttles left the U.S. without space access until the Ares/Orion replacement systems are ready as scheduled in 2014 or later (as is most likely, given the current projected two-year delays). Reliance on Russian space tourism access may be an issue, in light of Russian reliability issues, Russian lead time requirements, and Russian space industry problems. Transportation dangers were identified and documented, including rocket safety, space tourism risks, launch failures, accidents in space, reentry accidents, spacecraft damage, and earth weather. Finally, we identified the limiting factor of cost or pricepoint. Both suborbital and orbital space tourism pricepoints were surveyed and documented.

Total Pages: 58-89 (32)

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