Suborbital Rocketship Fleet to Carry Tourists Spaceward in
Style
By Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
posted: 22 February 2006
7:00 a.m. ET
With a fleet of rocketships and two spaceports on the way, a
high-flying tourism firm is taking passenger spaceflight to the
next level.
In the last week, the Arlington, Virginia-based firm Space
Adventures has announced plans for a new suborbital spacecraft and
spaceports near major airports in the United Arab Emirates and
Singapore that, it hopes, will draw eager customers seeking the
space experience.
These sites in the United Arab Emirates and in Singapore are just
the initial steps [for private spaceflight], Space Adventures CEO
Eric Anderson told SPACE.com. They are essentially the stead to
rally around.
At the heart of Space Adventures plan is the Explorer spacecraft,
a vehicle to be developed under a partnership with the Texas-based
Prodea a firm founded by the Ansari family, which put up the $10
million prize money and their namesake for the suborbital X Prize
competition.
We are absolutely building a global market, Anderson said. I
think its a huge milestone in private spaceflight.
Space Adventures has been a staple of sorts for orbital space
tourism, helping millionaires reach the International Space Station
(ISS) on 10-day trips with announced costs of about $20 million
each. U.S. scientist and CEO Gregory Olsen who reached the ISS in
October 2005 was the third and most recent space tourist.
Building on Cosmopolis
In addition to brokering deals for ISS-bound millionaires, Space
Adventures has also supported a pair of spacecraft development
efforts: the Xerus vehicle with XCOR Aerospace and Cosmopolis XXI
(C-21), a multi-passenger space plane designed by Russias
Myasishchev Design Bureau (MDB).
It is Cosmopolis from which Space Adventures Explorer series is
derived. Both vehicles are designed to be launched via a parent
aircraft in this case, the M-55X aircraft much like the
SpaceShipOne craft that won the Ansari X Prize.
But while Cosmopolis was designed to carry two passengers and one
pilot, Explorer vehicles will haul up to five people to suborbital
space.
Its actually much more advanced than [Cosmopolis], Anderson said
of the Explorer system. We havent disclosed the design, but that
doesnt mean that we dont have one. Were announcing things one at
a time.
MDB is also designing the Explorer spacecraft for Space Adventures
and Prodea. The Russian firm assured that the vehicle will come
equipped with several exciting features to enhance a space
tourists flight experience.
Additionally, the safety of the passengers is our chief aim, and
the Explorer will make use of several safety systems that we have
unique experience in designing and implementing for the last 40
years, explained MDB chief designer Valery Novikov in a written
statement.
Anderson said Explorer vehicles development is being supervised by
Russias Federal Space Agency.
Deriving details
While Space Adventures has not yet released specific details about
its Explorer vehicles aside from their intended occupancy and
maximum altitude, the fact that they will launch from the same
M-55X parent craft hints that they may be similar to Cosmopolis,
though the addition of two seats aboard Explorer suggests a larger
cabin.
For Cosmopolis flights, the 55,115-pound (25,000-kilogram) M-55X
aircraft was slated to launch the 4,409-pound (2,000-kilogram)
suborbital craft from an altitude of about 16.7 miles (27
kilometers). The entire flight, from takeoff up to 62 miles (100
kilometers) and landing, was expected to last about 6.5
hours.
Whether those details will hold for Explorer flights which are
expected to offer up to five minutes of weightlessness at a time
remains to be seen.
More information will be announced in the future, Space
Adventures spokesperson Erin Lundberg told SPACE.com.
Space Adventures officials did say that it intends to sell Explorer
vehicles to operator companies to conduct the actual
spaceflights.
At least two passengers are apparently already set to ride aboard a
Space Adventures-related suborbital flight.
According to an October 2005 report by China Daily, Chinese
businessman Jian Fang reportedly paid $100,000 for a 90-minute
suborbital spaceflight with Space Adventures. In September 2005,
the space tourism firm itself announced that Brian Emmett of
Mountain View, California had won a seat aboard a future suborbital
vehicle.
Both flights were reportedly set for 2007 at the time. Space
Adventures officials said they have received about 200 reservations
for future suborbital flights from individuals representing 18
different countries.
Spaceport Shuffle
Deals are also in place to construct a $265 million spaceport at
the Ras Al-Khaimah International Airport in Ras Al-Khaimah the
northernmost of seven emirates the United Arab Emirates (UAE)
with a $115 million facility to be built near Singapores Changi
International Airport, Space Adventures officials said.
After we initiate operations here, we look forward to expanding
operations outside of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Saud Bin
Saqr Al Qasimi, crown prince of Ras Al-Khaimah, in a
statement.
Anderson said Al Qasimi has been extremely supportive and invested
$30 million into the spaceport project.
Space Adventures is also working with a consortium of investors in
Singapore to develop Spaceport Singapore, a facility that will
offer not only suborbital spaceflights, but also astronaut
training, parabolic flights to simulate weightlessness, and other
high-altitude attractions.
With the proposed Spaceport Singapore, we now stand at the
threshold of an unprecedented opportunity to launch into space
practically from our own backyard, said Lim Neo Chian, chief of
the Singapore Tourism Board, in a statement.
The announcement of both spaceports does not rule out American
spaceport in Space Adventures future, though several unrelated
projects are already underway in the U.S.
Were still analyzing potential locations, Anderson said. Wed
love to be opening a spaceport in the United States.
In the meantime, the space tourism firm is pressing ahead with its
orbital program.
Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke Dice-K Enomoto is set to be the
firms next paying passenger to the ISS in October. His flight will
follow those of Olsen, South Africas Mark Shuttleworth in 2002 and
U.S. businessman Dennis Tito in 2001.
There is still a market for orbital spaceflight and I certainly
hope it will continue, Anderson said.