Space tourism is carving out a spot in the hospitality sector. Last year, SpaceX sent the first civilian crew to space and safely brought the four astronauts back to Earth. Several private companies are venturing into the space tourism business, a niche for a select few.
1. SpaceX and Axiom Space
On March 30, SpaceX is set to launch another mission, the first from Axiom Space, the world’s soon to be first commercial space station. Four private astronauts will be carried on SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS) in low earth orbit, where they’ll be conducting research for 8 days.
One of the crew members is Canadian businessman and philanthropist Mark Pathy, who said he was connected to the experience by a travel agent.
2. Space travel agency
The travel agent in question is Roman Chiporukha, the co-founder and CEO of Roman & Erica, a lifestyle and travel firm that combines the services of a concierge, luxury travel advisor and personal assistant.
Chiporukha said Axiom Space approached him in 2018, knowing he works with high-net-worth clients, to ask for assistance in selling the final seat on the upcoming mission, according to Phocus Wire. In November 2020, Chiporukha effectively mediated a trip to space, introducing Axiom Space to Pathy, who paid $55 million to become an Ax-1 astronaut and conduct research aboard.
The experience led Chiporukha to expand his luxury hospitality business to include touristic experiences beyond Earth.
We conceptualized this notion of having one place to go online that would give you very basic details of everything going on with any one of these companies. We aggregated and synthesized all of this data across all of these operators and put it in one place.
Roman Chiporukha, the co-founder and CEO of Roman & Erica
After studying the market offer and identifying the private companies working with space, in January 2021, Chiporukha launched SPACE VIP, a platform listing a variety of space travel experiences around the world, including Axiom Space’s future missions, as well as trips being planned by companies like Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, World View and Space Perspective.
3. Space agents
Chiporukha’s role is to act as an advisor to interested travellers and a mediator to the companies selling the experiences. Customers book the experience directly with the provider, who pays a “well compensated” commission to Chiporukha. His role, however, is likely to shift from advisor and mediator to a real space travel agent.
The price range of the experience goes from $55 million, to go about 250 miles up to the ISS from Axiom Space, or $50,000, the more modest trips, about 20 miles into space from World View, and Space Perspective charging $125,000.
Jay Johnson, an advisor with Coastline Travel Advisors, was one of the first “accredited space agents” for Virgin Galactic more than a decade ago. He received training from Virgin Galactic and began selling the company’s space travel experience through his website and by hosting informational events.
In total, Johnson sold eight trips, reportedly always with the same clients. However, since the 2014 crash of a Virgin Galactic test vehicle that killed one of the pilots, the trips have been on hold and the space company discontinued the accredited space agent program.
4. Virgin Galactic
As of 16 February, Virgin Galactic is selling tickets priced at €396,000 ($450,000), including an initial deposit of €132,000 ($150,000). The company already has about 600 reservations from its first round of ticket sales, which priced a trip to suborbital space at about 176,000€ ($200,000) to €220,000 ($250,000) per seat.
At Virgin Galactic, we believe that space is transformational. We plan to have our first 1,000 customers on board at the start of commercial service later this year, providing an incredibly strong foundation as we begin regular operations and scale our fleet.
Michael Colglazier, Virgin Galactic CEO
The company recently hired Dale Hipsh as president of tourism and exploration, a veteran hospitality executive who worked on the development of the Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, the Grand Hyatt Wailea and the Ritz-Carlton Bali, among other properties.
“One of the most important parts of what we’re doing is the goal of our customers experiencing the overview effect,” said Hipsh. “In conversations with astronauts and those who’ve been in the International Space Station and been lucky enough to experience the overview effect, it is most likely to occur when someone sees something they recognize from space,” he added.
