Space Tourism

Learn the latest news about space tourism and space tourist trips into outer space. Space.com looks at the growing business of space tourism. 

Related Topics: SpaceX, Virgin Galactic, Incredible Space Tech, International Space Station, Interstellar Travel 

Latest Updates

Blue Origin's NS-23 New Shepard capsule pulls away from its doomed booster during a failed launch on Sept.12, 2022 near Van Horn, Texas.

Blue Origin says it finally knows what caused its New Shepard rocket launch to fail last year

By Mike Wall published

The September 2022 in-flight failure of Blue Origin's New Shepard suborbital vehicle was caused by a problem with the vehicle's engine nozzle, the company announced on Friday (March 24).

SpaceX's Crew Dragon Endeavour with the Ax-1 crew docks to the International Space Station on April 9, 2022.

Axiom Space targeting November 2023 for 3rd private astronaut mission to space station

By Mike Wall published

Axiom Space is targeting November 2023 for the launch of its Ax-3 mission, which will send four private astronauts to the International Space Station for a two-week stay.

Blue Origin's NS-23 New Shepard capsule pulls away from its doomed booster during a failed launch on Sept.12, 2022 near Van Horn, Texas.

Blue Origin still investigating New Shepard failure 6 months later

By Mike Wall published

Blue Origin's New Shepard has now been grounded for almost six months, and it's unclear when the suborbital space-tourism vehicle will take to the skies again.

Virgin Galactic's carrier aircraft, VMS Eve, flies from California to New Mexico's Spaceport America on Feb. 27, 2023.

Virgin Galactic's carrier plane flies back to New Mexico spaceport

By Mike Wall published

On Monday (Feb. 27) VMS Eve flew from California's Mojave Air and Space Port to Spaceport America in New Mexico, the hub of Virgin Galactic's commercial operations.

several people inside of a plane, sitting down. lance bass is at center, wearing a spacesuit and smiling

Lance Bass once tried to go to space. His new podcast 'The Last Soviet' heads back with a famed cosmonaut. (exclusive video)

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Lance Bass almost made it to the International Space Station in 2002. Twenty years later, the NSYNC star told Space.com, he still wants to visit the orbiting complex to do science.

Virgin Galactic's VMS Eve carrier plane conducts a test flight from Mojave Air and Space Port in California on Feb. 15, 2023.

Virgin Galactic carrier plane flies for 1st time since 2021

By Mike Wall published

Virgin Galactic's carrier plane VMS Eve conducted a test flight on Wednesday (Feb. 15), taking to the skies for the first time since October 2021.

Members of Axiom SpaceX's Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station, from left to right: Commander Peggy Whitson, Pilot John Shoffner, and Mission Specialists Ali Alqarni and Rayyanah Barnawi.

SpaceX to launch 1st Saudi woman to space on private Ax-2 mission

By Mike Wall published

A Saudi Arabian woman will reach space for the first time this spring on the private Ax-2 mission to the International Space Station, if all goes according to plan.

polaris dawn crew members in black jumpsuits pose in front of spacex starship hardware

Polaris Dawn: The trailblazing commercial mission of the Polaris Program

By Elizabeth Howell published

Reference Polaris Dawn is the first of three missions of the Polaris Program. The mission will fly on a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft and be commanded by Jared Isaacman.

Blue Origin's New Shepard vehicle launches with the NS-21 crew from Launch Site One in West Texas on June 4, 2022.

Blue Origin plans to fly all-female crew to suborbital space: report

By Mike Wall published

Blue Origin plans to fly an all-female crew — led by Lauren Sanchez, the girlfriend of company founder Jeff Bezos — to suborbital space in the next year or so.

Participants float during an AstroAccess disabled research parabolic flight conducted on Dec. 15, 2022.

Zero-G flight for disability ambassadors shows space is accessible for all

By Elizabeth Howell published

AstroAccess flew 14 individuals from 5 countries on a parabolic research flight Dec. 15, to open up space research to more people.

Photo of a Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launching the NS-20 space tourist mission in March 2022.

Blue Origin space tourist launches: Live mission updates

By Elizabeth Howell published

Blue Origin's next space tourist mission hasn't yet been announced yet. Here are live updates of what we know.

Space Perspective's MS Voyager "marine spaceport" ocean vessel will allow passengers to fly into the stratosphere from ocean vessels.

Space Perspective to launch balloon-borne tourist flights from 'marine spaceport'

By Elizabeth Howell published

From sea to the stratosphere, Space Perspective aims to give high-altitude balloon tourists a flexible launching point to see the blackness of space and the curve of Earth.

richard branson with two thumbs up beside a big bell. to the left is a model of virgin galactic's spaceshiptwo

Branson blues? Challenges face Virgin Galactic and Virgin Orbit

By Elizabeth Howell published

Space tourism company Virgin Galactic may be sued by shareholders, a media report suggests, while Virgin Orbit is bleeding cash ahead of its first launch from the United Kingdom.

close up of spaceshiptwo firing its engines in space with earth visible as a blurry blue area to the right

Virgin Galactic releases roadmap for its new space tourist spaceship

By Elizabeth Howell published

Virgin Galactic will partner with Axiom Space to give astronauts a brief weightless experience, and it has new suppliers to build the next-generation Delta spaceship in 2023.

view of a dragon spacecraft docked with the international space station. the black of space is visible in the background

SpaceX will fly 2 Saudi astronauts to space station on private Axiom Space mission

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

NASA and Axiom Space are adding two Saudi astronauts to the Ax-2 manifest that already includes a NASA astronaut and a motorsports racing driver.

astronaut samantha cristoforett leaning on the multi-pane cupola window on the space station and looking outside

Rooms with a view: Astronauts have design ideas for new space stations

By Elizabeth Howell published

Newly returned International Space Station astronauts say they were impressed with their quarters, but new tech and design thinking could push new commercial stations even further.

polaris dawn crew members in black jumpsuits pose in front of spacex starship hardware

SpaceX's private Polaris Dawn mission now targeting March 2023

By Mike Wall published

The historic Polaris Dawn mission to Earth orbit will now lift off no earlier than March 2023.

A still from a SpaceX video animation of the company's Starship vehicle launching astronauts to Mars, a trip that includes orbital refilling and booster landings.

SpaceX says its 2nd private Starship trip around the moon will help make humanity multiplanetary

By Mike Wall published

SpaceX's newly announced tourist mission to the moon could help humanity extend its footprint far beyond Earth, company representatives say.

Dennis Tito, the world's first self-funded space tourist, and his wife Akiko pose for a photo at Starbase, SpaceX's Starship test facility in Boca Chica, Texas. The Titos have booked seats on the second Starship circumlunar flight.

Space tourist Dennis Tito books two seats to the moon on SpaceX Starship

By Robert Z. Pearlman last updated

The first person to pay his way into space has now bought two tickets to the moon. Dennis Tito revealed that he and his wife have reserved seats on a SpaceX Starship circumlunar flight.

People floating in an airplane during a parabolic flight. At the front, a person stretches out their hands while smiling.

16 disability ambassadors will take a Zero-G flight for inclusion

By Elizabeth Howell published

AstroAccess is hoping to redesign spaceflight to serve people with disabilities, starting with parabolic flights. Its December opportunity is the second dedicated flight for the organization.