Boeing has a long and storied tradition of space flight. They’re a NASA partner in an unmanned space flight initiative, and now Boeing is entering the tourism industry. Move over Virgin Galactic and Richard Branson, Boeing has partnered with Space Adventures (the private firm that sets up tourist space flights with the Russian space agency) to announce a space taxi program in which customers with big wallets can buy commercial space flights. To that end, the company is hard at work on a seven-person space capsule called the CST-100.
People love space. More importantly, everyone’s always wanted to go to space, even if it’s just as part of a NASA data package of thousands of faces. If this is a more efficient way to send astronauts to the International Space Station, and someone can pay to go along for the ride (or just buy a ride), then why not give them a space? Surely they won’t need to send up 7 people on a single capsule!
Tags: Boeing, Space Adventures, Brewster Shaw, NASA, space tourism, space tourism program, Kennedy Space Center, White Sands, New Mexico, space taxi, low orbit space flight, unusual business ventures