THE SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ASTRONAUT PROGRAM AND SPACE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT - A THIRD WORLD PERSPECTIVE

摘要

There have been several third world countries which have sent astronauts to orbit in the past decades, and there will be more third world countries that will send astronauts to orbit in years to come. After the emergence of space tourism, where private astronauts or "space tourists" were allowed to stay onboard the International Space Station, there is no difference between space tourists and government-funded astronauts from third world countries, because both of them become customers of the same space program. Malaysia is an example of a third world country which is planning to send an astronaut to the space station through the program which is also available for space tourists. Because of the lower per-capita income and lower government budget in Malaysia compared to that of developed countries, there will be no other astronaut after the first, unless other space programs with lower cost are available. Due to that, space tourism, which has been identified as the alternative lower cost space program, will possibly be promoted by the astronaut program itself, and the astronaut program, which needs remain popular, will therefore be able to maintain its popularity. This possibility will make governments of the third world, which have sent astronauts to space, become strong supporters of space tourism. This paper studies the symbiotic relationship between an astronaut program of a third world country and space tourism development in the country.