Space tourism becomes a reality as NASA opens up the ISS
US space agency NASA is to allow tourists to visit the International Space Station from as early as next year, priced at $35,000 (£27,500) a night.
NASA said it would open the orbiting station to tourism and other commercial ventures, which could include filming and TV productions.
There will be up to two short private missions per year, said ISS deputy director Robyn Gatens.
Space tourists will be allowed to travel to the ISS for up to 30 days, travelling on US spacecraft.
"NASA is opening the International Space Station to commercial opportunities and marketing these opportunities as we’ve never done before," chief financial officer Jeff DeWit said in New York.
NASA said that private commercial entities would be responsible for determining crew composition and ensuring that the tourists – or private astronauts as it’s calling them – meet the medical and training requirements for spaceflight.
The two companies hired by NASA are Elon Musk’s SpaceX, which will use its Dragon capsule, and Boeing, which is building a spacecraft called the Starliner.
NASA had previously banned any commercial use of the space station and prohibited astronauts from taking part in research for profit.
However, it doesn’t own the ISS, which was built with Russia, which allowed US businessman Dennis Tito to visit in 2001, for which he paid around $20 million.
Today’s announcement is part of US President Donald Trump plans for its part of the ISS to survive without government funding by 2025.
The space agency recently announced that it planned to return to the moon by 2024, taking the first woman there and the first person in decades.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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