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 

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Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket lifts off from the company's West Texas launch site, carrying Jeff Bezos along with his brother Mark Bezos, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen and 82-year-old Wally Funk, on July 20, 2021. It was the company’s first crewed spaceflight.

How to watch Blue Origin launch GMA host Michael Strahan and crew to space today

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Blue Origin's third crewed launch, targeted for Saturday morning (Dec. 11), will feature an 11-minute flight to suborbital space and back.

Blue Origin's New Shepard 19 (NS-19) crew, from left to right: Dylan Taylor, Lane Bess, Cameron Bess, Laura Shepard Churchley, Michael Strahan and Evan Dick.

Michael Strahan taking football to space on Blue Origin flight Saturday

By Mike Wall published

Michael Strahan, who played in the NFL from 1993 to 2007, will tote a football on his suborbital jaunt with Jeff Bezos' spaceflight company Blue Origin on Saturday.

The Inspiration4 crew poses for a selfie in the Crew Dragon cupola.

FAA ending commercial astronaut wings program as more people reach space

By Elizabeth Howell published

The 17-year-old program met its goal in raising awareness and the names will still be listed online, the agency said.

Laura Shepard Churchley, the eldest daughter of the first American in space Alan Shepard, is seen wearing a Blue Origin cap at the first human flight of the company's New Shepard launch vehicle in July 2021. Churchley is set to follow in her father's footsteps, flying on Blue Origin's third crewed flight in December.

Astronaut Alan Shepard's daughter says she's excited to follow him to space

By Elizabeth Howell published

Laura Shepard Churchley is set to launch on a Blue Origin flight Saturday (Dec. 11).

The six passengers of Blue Origin's NS-19 flight, from left: Dylan Taylor, Lane and Cameron Bess, Laura Shepard Churchley, Michael Strahan and Evan Dick.

What time is Blue Origin's New Shepard launch with GMA host Michael Strahan?

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Blue Origin's third crewed mission is expected to lift off early Saturday morning (Dec. 11).

Artist's illustration of the space station that Houston-based company Axiom Space plans to build in Earth orbit.

Building a private space station: Q&A with Axiom Space CTO Matt Ondler

By Mike Wall last updated

Space.com caught up with Axiom Space's Matt Ondler recently to discuss the company's space station plans and the outlook for private industry in low Earth orbit, among other things.

Blue Origin’s New Shepard rocket lifts off from the company's West Texas launch site, carrying Jeff Bezos along with his brother Mark Bezos, 18-year-old Oliver Daemen and 82-year-old Wally Funk, on July 20, 2021.

Blue Origin's New Shepard launch with GMA anchor Michael Strahan: When to watch and what to know

By Elizabeth Howell last updated

Here's everything you need to know about Blue Origin's launch of Laura Shepard Churchley and her crew on the New Shepard spacecraft on Dec. 11, 2021.

Blue Origin's third crewed New Shepard flight, NS-19, will be the first to launch with all six of the spacecraft's seats filled. Laura Shepard Churchley (at right), the eldest daughter of first American in space Alan Shepard, will fly with "Good Morning America" anchor Michael Strahan (at left) and paying passengers Dylan Taylor, Evan Dick and parent-child pair Lane and Cameron Bess.

Blue Origin launch with GMA host Michael Strahan delayed to Saturday by high winds

By Elizabeth Howell published

Windy conditions pushed off the third crewed launch of the New Shepard system.

A view of the Soyuz MS-20 capsule flying near the International Space Station before docking on Dec. 8, 2021.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, two crewmates arrive at International Space Station

By Mike Wall published

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, video producer Yozo Hirano and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin docked with the orbiting lab early Wednesday (Dec. 8).

Russia's Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft, atop a Soyuz 2.1a rocket, lifts off for a short stay at the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome on Wednesday, Dec. 8, 2021.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa lifts off for space station on Russian Soyuz

By Robert Z. Pearlman last updated

A Japanese billionaire has launched for the International Space Station to try out life in space before flying to the moon. Yusaku Maezawa flew with Yozo Hirano and Alexander Misurkin on Soyuz MS-20.

Billionaire entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa (left), cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (center) and video producer Yozo Hirano (right) are scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station on Dec. 8, 2021. Hirano will participate in health-related research during and after the mission.

Japanese space tourist will join human health research effort in orbit

By Elizabeth Howell published

An upcoming 12-day mission to the space station will add to the information available about non-professional astronauts.

Yozo Hirano (left), cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin (center) and Yusaku Maezawa (right) are scheduled to launch toward the International Space Station on Dec. 8, 2021, on a 12-day mission arranged by Virginia-based company Space Adventures in partnership with Russia’s federal space agency Roscosmos. 

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa will launch to space station early Wednesday: Watch it live

By Elizabeth Howell published

A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, video producer Yozo Hirano and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin is set to launch at 2:38 a.m. EST.

Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard and Blue Origin NS-19 crew member, waves while seated in a mockup of the New Shepard capsule at the Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colorado in 2017.

Astronaut's daughter packs father's space mementos for Blue Origin launch

By Robert Z. Pearlman last updated

Laura Shepard Churchley is bringing more than memories of her father on her Blue Origin launch into space. She has packed a few special items that not only made the trip before, but went to the moon.

Artist's illustration of the space station that Houston-based company Axiom Space plans to build in Earth orbit.

Private habitats, not just the International Space Station, may be needed to get astronauts to Mars: report

By Mike Wall published

Private space stations may end up being a key stepping stone on humanity's path to Mars, a new report by the NASA Office of Inspector General suggests.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa (right) poses for a crew photo with his video producer Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin during training to launch on a Soyuz spacecraft to the International Space Station. liftoff is set for Dec. 8.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa launching to space station next week

By Mike Wall published

A Russian Soyuz spacecraft carrying Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, video producer Yozo Hirano and cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin is scheduled to launch toward the ISS on Dec. 8.

From left, Omaze CEO and co-founder Matt Pohlson, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, Omaze winner Keisha S., and Space for Humanity Executive Director Rachel Lyons congratulate Keisha at her home in Antigua.

Virgin Galactic announces winner of free trip to suborbital space

By Mike Wall published

Keisha S., a health and energy coach from the Caribbean nation of Antigua and Barbuda, just won a free trip to suborbital space with Virgin Galactic.

Blue Origin's third crewed New Shepard flight, NS-19, will be the first to launch with all six of the spacecraft's seats filled. Laura Shepard Churchley (at right), the eldest daughter of first American in space Alan Shepard, will fly with "Good Morning America" anchor Michael Strahan (at left) and paying passengers Dylan Taylor, Evan Dick and parent-child pair Lane and Cameron Bess.

Blue Origin to fly 1st astronaut's daughter, GMA host Michael Strahan on New Shepard spaceflight

By Robert Z. Pearlman last updated

Sixty years after watching her father launch on the first American spaceflight, Laura Shepard Churchley will fly with GMA host Michael Strahan and four paying passengers on Blue Origin's New Shepard.

Blue Origin's official portrait of Glen de Vries, taken ahead of his New Shepard NS-18 spaceflight in 2021.

Glen de Vries, who flew to space with William Shatner, killed in plane crash

By Hanneke Weitering last updated

Glen de Vries, one of the passengers who accompanied the "Star Trek" legend William Shatner on a Blue Origin spaceflight last month, was killed in a plane crash in New Jersey on Nov. 11.

Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson soars like Superman while in weightlessness during his Unity 22 launch on the SpaceShipTwo VSS Unity on July 11, 2021.

Virgin Galactic sells 100 new tickets for space tourist launches

By Mike Wall published

About 100 people have bought a ticket to ride to suborbital space since Virgin Galactic reopened sales in August, at $450,000 apiece.

Space Craft, a new special release from Samuel Adams, was made using hops flown on the Inspiration4 mission.

Samuel Adams brews 'Space Craft' beer with Inspiration4-flown hops

By Robert Z. Pearlman last updated

'Who wouldn't order a beer brewed with space hops?'