Virgin Galactic grounds space tourism flight

Virgin Galactic has grounded its current space tourism flight after a small part of its mothership unintentionally detached. Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic has been offering space tourism missions since August 2023. 

Spain's first private rocket successfully lifts off

A Spanish company launched the country's first private rocket on Saturday in a step towards bringing Spain into the exclusive club of space-faring nations.

SpaceX capsule returns four civilians from orbit

Four people returned to Earth from a three-day extraterrestrial excursion aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon capsule on Saturday evening. It was the first-ever flight to Earth's orbit flown entirely by tourists.

Jeff Bezos launches to space aboard New Shepard rocket ship

Billionaire Jeff Bezos has made a short journey to space, in the first crewed flight of his rocket ship, New Shepard. New Shepard, built by Bezos' company Blue Origin, is designed for space tourism.

Sir Richard Branson rockets to the edge of space

Billionaire Sir Richard Branson has successfully reached the edge of space on board his Virgin Galactic rocket plane. The flight was high above New Mexico in the US in the vehicle that his company has been developing for 17 years.

Space Perspective's Stratospheric Balloon Tours

U.S Space Perspective is selling tickets for flights that provide an astronaut's-eye view of Earth. The price for a six-hour trip up into the stratosphere and back is $125,000. Flights are scheduled to begin as soon as late 2024. 

Virgin Galactic rocket plane flies to edge of space

Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic space plane has conducted the first of three key test flights that should enable it to enter commercial service. Sir Richard has some 600 paying customers waiting to take the same ride.

Blue Origin Will Finally Fly Passengers to Space in July

Blue Origin recently announced they are planning to conduct the first crewed flight with the New Shepard by July 20th. In addition to the Blue Origin astronaut crew, one seat is being set aside for a commercial passenger.

Virgin Galactic unveils its first 'SpaceShip III' suborbital spacecraft

Last week, Virgin Galactic, the space tourism firm owned by Richard Branson, revealed its newest design, SpaceShip III, with the first vehicle in this line dubbed “VSS Imagine.” 

Blue Origin Is Very Close To Flying Humans To Space

Blue Origin says it is “very, very close” to flying humans on suborbital launches to the edge of space after a successful test flight of a human-capable rocket and capsule last Thursday.

Design for a Space Habitat With Artificial Gravity

We are now one step closer to space with a recent U.S. paper that describes a way to build an expandable space habitat of concentric cylinders that can house up to 8000 people.

Virgin Galactic set for last key rocket test flights

Virgin Galactic already has its commercial operating licence but it has to work through a list of "verification and validation" milestones before it can welcome passengers aboard. 

SpaceX Plans to Send Tourists Farther into Space

SpaceX will work with space tourism company Space Adventures to send up to four people into space onboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon spacecraft. The mission will send tourists to “twice the altitude of any prior civilian astronaut mission or space station visitor".

Virgin Galactic Sends Three People to the Edge of Space

Virgin Galactic has reached another milestone in their fight test program. The flight took place on February 22nd and three people in the crew spent several weightless minutes aboard the spacecraft.

Blue Origin aims to fly humans late in 2019

Unlike some previous test missions, Wednesday's New Shepard flight followed the same profile that space tourists will take. But The company has yet to begin selling tickets for the six-person capsule.