MirCorp, the first company in the area of space tourism, ended in bankruptcy and shut down in 2003. However, The X Prize foundation, in 1996 had declared a prize of $10 million to encourage private participation in this area. The challenge was to build and launch a spacecraft capable of carrying three people to 100 kilometers above the earth’s surface, twice within two weeks. 26 private companies slugged it out for nearly 8 years. Finally in 2004, Scaled Composites, owned by aerospace designer Burt Rutan and financed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen won the prize.

The aircraft (shown on the left), as described by Scaled Composites “consists of two stages: a carrier aircraft, the White Knight, and a second stage rocket, SpaceShipOne (SS1). The White Knight is a manned, twin-turbojet research aircraft intended for high-altitude missions. The design mission of White Knight is to provide a high-altitude airborne launch of a manned suborbital spacecraft, SS1.”

Here’s a link to the video of the SpaceShipOne in flight that I found on youtube.(You might find it better with the volume down)

Immediately after the success of SpaceShipOne, in September 2004, Richard Branson, the flamboyant British businessman and owner of the Virgin brand, entered into a deal with Scaled Composites. Just like MirCorp and RSC Energia had a deal where MirCorp saw all the business aspect, here Branson’s newly formed company “Virgin Galactic” will handle the marketing and business while Scaled Composites would take care of the technology. The company has already started selling flight tickets to the public.

With the cost at a US $200,000 and 10% initial deposit you can book a ticket right away. The cost is just 1/100th of what the first space tourist Dennis Tito paid for his flight in 2001 on the Soyuz TM-32. The prize drop has happened within less than a decade.

Virgin Galactic has not specified any exact dates when its services will be launched. According to the company, it “does not regard itself as being in a race. We have no absolute or forced deadlines for launch” An early estimate would be late 2009. The launch site will be Mojave Spaceport, in the Californian desert. The ticket will also include pre-flight 3 day necessary training before launching into space. The passengers will be able to experience weightlessness and see space from beyond the earth’s atmosphere. The experience no doubt would be one of a kind.

However Virgin Galactic has also got some competition coming its way. SpaceX, EADS Astrium, CSI (Constellation Services International) and other companies are also planning to enter the space market soon. EADS Astrium, formed by the merger of three European companies is planning to launch its own services by 2012. With more companies in the fray and stiffer competition and further technological advances, the future of space tourism definitely seems interesting. The dream of the rest of the earthly population to reach out to space can now definitely be realized pretty soon.

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