Space flight price wars
May 19, 2005 17: 02 EST
Tickets are now on sale for the first commercial flight of the Altairis Spaceship. The price: $250,000. That’ll buy you one of six seats on the first launch, set to take place in December 2006. "With our design completed and our agreements in place to use Cape Canaveral for launch, flight logistics and landing, we are now ready to begin ticket sales," said Bill Sprague, founder, president and chief scientist behind the Altairis Rocket. AERA was the first private space tour organizer to sign up a launch port.
If a quarter million seems a little steep, you can choose to wait for later flights set to take off in 2007. Aera Space Tours (the company behind the Altairis rocket) expects those tickets to go for $150,000. They hope to make an additional 30 launches in 2007.
Prices are really “best estimates”
Of course, the laws of supply and demand are always at work. According to the AERA reservation application, “The prices quoted on the website, in any brochure or contained in any other information provided to you by SpaceTours are only our best estimates at the time of publication.”
Not the only game in town
Meanwhile, you can take a zero gravity flight in Sweden for around 10,000 USD, and that includes visits to local attractions and dinner with the pilot. The current price for a Virgin Galactic sub-orbital space flight runs just over $200,000. Another space flight option is Space Adventures, which is working with the Russian government to reserve seats on Soyuz rocket launches. In one of Eric Anderson’s grandest schemes, customers would be able to buy two seats on a Soyuz flight, with the third belonging to a professional pilot. But that kind of exclusive treatment would run you around $50 million.
AERA was founded by Bill Sprague (Chairman, CEO, and Chief Scientist), and operated by Lewis Reynold (President and COO). Sprague has 30 years in aerospace management and engineering in rocket propulsion, launch vehicle development, and space flight from concept through engineering development, testing, deployment, and operation.
Image of Altairis rocket courtesy of AERA.
|
|
Feature Stories |
|
Latest News |
more news |
 |
ExWeb updated expeditions list - Space!
Full Story
|
 |
Titan: Rain fall, methane rivers, volcanoes spewing ice
Full Story
|
 |
Life in Space - leaving Eden in search for Paradise
Full Story
|
 |
ET coming closer: Suns like ours spotted with planetary debris dis
Full Story
|
 |
The Wow signal - listen up!
Full Story
|
 |
Mars Society: Looking for a few good Martians - that's YOU buddy!
Full Story
|
 |
The Space Frontier Foundation
Full Story
|
|
|
| Discovery Returns to the Vehicle Assembly Building May 31, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 30, 2005 | | Space tourists are not rocket scientists and might be super sized May 27, 2005 | | Olsen back to Space? May 26, 2005 | | "Robonauts" to help humans in space May 25, 2005 | | Interstellar exploration: Voyager enters the solar system's final frontier May 24, 2005 | | Russia plans manned mission to Mars, but money first May 23, 2005 | | ExplorersWeb Week in Review May 22, 2005 | | Rutan under-whelmed by NASA May 20, 2005 | | Space flight price wars May 19, 2005 |
| | NASA launches new explorer schools May 18, 2005 |
|
|
