Astronaut wannabes looking for a short space jaunt may soon have an alternative to shelling out millions of dollars for a trip to the International Space Station (ISS).
Space Adventures, an Arlington, Va. company that also offers flights aboard Russian fighter jets and a micro-gravity "vomit comet" for private citizens, announced today its partnership with XCOR Aerospace in California. The aerospace company is developing a sub-orbital rocket vehicle designed specifically for space tourists at a bargain price when compared to private trips aboard the ISS.
"For the last several years, Space Adventures has worked closely with emerging companies developing the technology needed for launch vehicles," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of the space tourism company, in a telephone interview. "XCOR has been very successful in this respect and it only made sense to provide a partnership."
XCOR has begun preliminary designs for a two-person vehicle called Xerus to rocket a pilot and one space tourist to an altitude of 62 miles (100 kilometers). The whole trip is expected to take about an hour, allowing those aboard several minutes of weightlessness and a view of Earth from space. Xerus' rocket engine will use non-toxic rocket propellants.
XCOR officials say their experience developing the EZ-Rocket airplane has shown the company capable of flying a rocket-powered vehicle multiple times a day with a small ground crew. "By developing rocket engines that have essentially gas-and-go operation, we can operate at a fraction of the cost of competitive vehicles," XCOR CEO Jeff Greason said in a written statement.
The EZ-Rocket, a modified Long EZ plane piloted by retired Lt. Col. Dick Rutan, flew two flights in one day earlier this month. Rutan's brother Burt Rutan, of Scaled Composites, designed the Long EZ plane and is also developing a separate reusable vehicle as part of the $10 million X-Prize competition to put three people in space and return them safely.
Anderson told SPACE.com that passenger flights could begin in the next three or fours years, provided funding for the project can be secured. The cost for passengers is would be about $98,000, or about half a percent of the millions of dollars paid by Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth, the first two space tourists to pay for space station jaunts.
In March, Space Adventures announced the debut of the Cosmopolis XXI Aerospace System (C-21), a next-generation spacecraft designed specifically for sub-orbital space tourist flights. The full-scale model of the reusable launch vehicle (RLV) was unveiled at the Zhukovsky Air Base outside of Moscow, Russia.
The three-seat passenger vehicle was developed by the same aerospace company responsible for the design of the former Soviet Union's Buran Space Shuttle, the Myasishchev Design Bureau (MDB), in collaboration with the Cosmopolis XXI Suborbital Corporation and Space Adventures.
The consortium planned to construct a working model of the craft in the hope of attracting additional investors, Space Adventures' Tereza Predescu told SPACE.com at the time.
Space Adventures currently has about 100 reservations for sub-orbital space trips, and estimates the market for such expeditions could generate a $1 billion-revenue.
"The cost of these trips is expensive, but it's still on par with the price of climbing Mount Everest, or going on a safari or flying around the world in a jet," Anderson said of sub-orbital space tourism. "I think they'll fill a much-needed niche for those who are not multi-millionaires."
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