Space tourism

摘要

There is much anticipation about the first 'space tourism' flight and something of a commercial 'space race'with sub-orbital trips to just beyond the Earth's atmosphere being sold, albeit only to the wealthy for the time being. Specialist operators such as Virgin Galactic, which opened Spaceport America in the New Mexico desert three years ago, and XCOR Aerospace are close to launching long-awaited flights, which have been held back by delays caused by technical and safety issues. Virgin Galactic signed a deal with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in the US in May setting out how routine space missions from the spaceport will be co-ordinated with the normal air traffic control system.