Would you pay $200,000 for a flight into space?

Sep 24 2010

Would you pay $200,000 for a flight into space?

Posted by Thomas Taylor in Finance News

A recent Consumers Union survey found widespread passenger dissatisfaction with the airline industry. It remains to be seen if commercial air service will be improved by a dramatic expansion in route maps—like to space.

Last week The Boeing Company announced a memorandum of understanding with Space Adventures for the marketing of “anticipated transportation services” to destinations in low Earth orbit (LEO), including the International Space Station. The vehicle of choice will be the Boeing Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100) spacecraft, which is designed to support crews of up to seven people.

Space Adventures, which touts itself as “the only company to have sent private citizens to space,” has carried seven civilians to the International Space Station. The joint venture with Boeing hopes to be operational by 2015, and although there’s no word yet on the price per seat, rates are expected once full-scale development is under way.
Currently, Space Adventures sells suborbital spaceflights starting at $102,000, while orbital flights reportedly cost between $12 million and $20 million. Lunar flights? They have listed for a cool $100 million. Space Adventures also markets zero gravity flights for $4,950 per person. The main competitor in the commercial space industry is Virgin Galactic, founded by Virgin Atlantic Airways founder Richard Branson. But rather than relying on a supplier such as Boeing, Branson teamed with Scaled Composites to form The Spaceship Company, which currently is testing spacecraft. Virgin Galactic is accepting bookings for suborbital flights, with fares starting at $200,000.

Since that CR survey found baggage fees topped the list of consumer annoyances, it would seem $25 for a first checked bag would not be a problem for these passengers.—William J. McGee

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