Just picture this. You get on board a special flight unlike any other, attain a minimum height of 80 km from mean sea level (to be technically in outer space), experience zero gravity for a few minutes, and gaze at the Earth—hanging like a blue marble against the deep blackness of the cosmos. You also see the planet’s curvature, cloud patterns, land masses, vast oceans, and maybe even the glowing lights at night. Sounds too surreal, right? Well, these are experiences that are becoming a reality—and that holds true for ‘civilians’ without scientific or governmental roles as well —thanks to space tourism, or travelling to space for pleasure or recreational purposes.
On May 19 last year, India-born aviator and commercial pilot Gopi Thotakura became the first space tourist from India after he flew aboard a spacecraft of Blue Origin, a private space company founded by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. The whole journey, from take-off to landing, might have lasted just about 10 minutes, but for Thotakura, the experience was “something that isn’t in the urban dictionary”. “Movies do a fantastic job, but what the naked eye can see, you have to experience yourself,” he was quoted as saying by media reports.
Thotakura’s landmark achievement— he also became the second Indian citizen to travel beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, after Rakesh Sharma in 1984—not only highlights the potential of space tourism but also reflects India’s growing presence in the global space community.
Soaring higher
Blue Origin, founded in 2000 by Bezos, is among a handful of private space companies that are changing the space tourism landscape after the US government’s National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa) ended its space shuttle programme in 2011. Until that time, private space tourists could purchase tickets to go to the International Space Station (ISS) or Russia’s Mir station. By 2011, eight private individuals had made it to space as tourists.
Cut to present, while Blue Origin is seeking to establish an industrial base in space, Elon Musk’s SpaceX seeks to colonise Mars as well as provide satellite-based internet through its Starlink project. Richard Branson’s Virgin Group (through Virgin Galactic) is the only one that has stated a long-term goal of promoting space tourism.
Rocketing its first lot of tourists to the edge of space with the Galactic 01 in August 2023, Virgin Galactic has made seven commercial spaceflights to date. It is now producing its fourth-generation spaceships that are expected to enter commercial service in 2026.
Similarly, Blue Origin has launched ten space tourism flights so far, with 53 individuals on board, including Bezos and three others who have flown twice.
Preparations are now on for an all-female crew to helm Blue Origin’s next (11th) flight into space on April 14. On board will be singer Katy Perry, apart from five others.
Meanwhile, the global space tourism industry, once led by Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin, is now facing stiff competition from Musk’s SpaceX, which put four private astronauts on the Earth’s orbit, 450 miles above the surface and three times higher than the ISS, aboard its Polaris Dawn spacecraft last year. Recently, it launched another four people, including a cryptocurrency billionaire, on a days-long trip that will orbit above Earth’s north and south poles—a feat never attempted before —aboard a Crew Dragon spacecraft.
Not to be left behind, a Chinese launch startup, Deep Blue Aerospace, is developing its Nebula-1 reusable orbital rocket and plans to provide suborbital tourism flights starting in 2027, as per reports.
All these space tourism companies are betting big on a market that accounted for $1.17 billion in 2024, grew to $1.36 billion in 2025 and is predicted to surpass around $5.27 billion by 2034, representing a healthy CAGR of 16.20% between 2024 and 2034, as per market research and consulting firm Precedence Research.
Globally, space tourism is evolving with increasingly diverse offerings, as per Awais Ahmed, founder and CEO of Pixxel, a Bengaluru-based space-tech company building a constellation of the world’s highest-resolution hyperspectral earth imaging satellites. “Plans for private space stations, such as those by Axiom Space, envision a future where frequent human spaceflights become a reality or missions like SpaceX’s Starship that aim to realise interplanetary travel,” he says.
Additionally, there is a growing emphasis on customisation, allowing space tourists to tailor their experiences, from selecting flight paths to curating onboard activities. “These developments reflect a shift in space tourism. Eventually, it will change from being an exclusive pursuit to a more accessible and varied industry, opening new possibilities for exploration and engagement,” adds Ahmed.
Taking flight
Even though space tourism is still in its early stages, India seems to be taking some steps in the right direction. On December 31 last year, science and technology minister Jitendra Singh said that the country will have its first human spaceflight— Gaganyaan—by the end of 2025 or early 2026, adding that the mission depended on the success of the unmanned missions, the first of which, comprising the Vyommitra robot, is expected to be launched sometime this year.
Earlier in 2023, responding to a question in Rajya Sabha, the minister had noted that Gaganyaan, which is a demonstration of human spaceflight capability to the low earth orbit (LEO), is a precursor to India’s space tourism programme.
Singh said the Isro has carried out technical feasibility studies for a sub-orbital space tourism mission. “Results of these studies include basic configuration of the space module for safe tourism and a liquid propellant stage booster for launching the module. In view of the commercial potential of space tourism, the department of space envisages its commercial exploitation through the NewSpace India Limited (NSIL),” he added.
Meanwhile, Isro chairman S Somanath had earlier revealed that such space tou-rism flights could indeed be possible after 2030. According to reports, the Isro is planning to offer suborbital flights to the edge of space, similar to short flights undertaken by Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic.
“Work is in progress around India’s very own space tourism module, which is both safe and reusable,” Somanath was quoted as saying by media reports. “The ticket price is likely to be around `6 crore per person. People who take the trip will also be able to call themselves astronauts,” he added.
“I assume that Isro’s assessment is based on their predictions that we would have sent human beings in space (successful Gaganyaan mission), which would be in the process of establishment of the Bhartiya Antariksh Station. Once these milestones are achieved, the possibility of space tourism would significantly improve,” says Lt Gen AK Bhatt (Retd), director general of the Indian Space Association (ISpA), a premier industry association of private space companies.
India is also setting its sights on an ambitious space milestone, landing an Indian on the moon by 2040. This was shared by Isro’s Somanath at the third edition of the Indian Space Conclave, organised by the ISpA in New Delhi, last year. “Given the rapid advancements in space technology, India’s goal of space travel by 2030 is ambitious and achievable. Key milestones like the development of reusable launch vehicles, advanced life-support systems, and human-rated spacecraft are crucial to making this vision a reality,” says Ahmed of Pixxel.
“India has already laid the groundwork with programmes like Gaganyaan, which represent a significant step toward human spaceflight. These efforts showcase Isro’s commitment to building the necessary infrastructure and expertise. At the same time, India’s growing private space sector is driving innovation and collaboration, contributing to advancements that can complement government initiatives and accelerate progress,” adds Ahmed.
Besides Gaganyaan, Isro’s Next Generation Launch Vehicle (NGLV), the development of which was approved by the Union Cabinet led by PM Narendra Modi in September last year, could also be used for space tourism in India, along with other space missions. “The development of NGLV will enable national and commercial missions including launch of human spaceflight missions to Bhartiya Antariksh Station, lunar/inter-planetary exploration missions along with communication and Earth observation satellite constellations to the low Earth orbit that will benefit the entire space ecosystem in the country,” said a government statement.
Isro’s NGLV and Gaganyaan mission are foundational to India’s aspirations, says Ahmed of Pixxel. “These technologies demonstrate India’s capability to achieve reliable and cost-effective access to space. In the future, NGLV will likely reduce the cost of launches, and Gaganyaan will pave the way for building expertise in human spaceflight, helping to establish the infrastructure and knowledge base necessary to make space tourism a sustainable and accessible reality in India,” he adds.
A bumpy ride
Space tourism, however, is not without its own set of challenges. Prices of tickets, for instance, remain incredibly high, limiting such flights to the uber-rich and making them unaffordable for the masses at the moment. Virgin Galactic’s space tours cost about $450,000 a ticket, as per reports. SpaceX is the only private company flying customers all the way into orbit, charging a heftier price, in the process—tens of millions of dollars per seat, as per reports. It’s not known how much Blue Origin charges for a ticket but one commercial seat was auctioned on June 12, 2021, for $28 million, with the proceeds going to Blue Origin’s foundation Club for the Future, which promotes STEM careers.
Speed and cost are the most significant factors, says Pawan Kumar Chandana, co-founder and CEO of Skyroot Aerospace, a private aerospace manufacturer and commercial launch service provider headquartered in Hyderabad, Telangana. “No one likes a delayed flight, and no one prefers to shell out more than they need to on a flight ticket. The same expectation that holds true for aviation should hold true for spaceflight. Currently, a suborbital flight costs around half a million US dollars to several millions depending on the vehicle, while an orbital experience can reach $50 million or more. These prices must decrease significantly to make space tourism accessible to more than just ultra-high-net-worth individuals,” adds Chandana.
Skyroot Aerospace is on its way to become the first private company in India to even attempt an orbital launch mission as it is currently conducting tests to achieve the maiden orbital flight of its indigenously developed Vikram-1 rocket in a few months from now.
For space tourism to make a real impact, the cost of the journey should come down to around a few lakhs, needing a giant leap in technology, says Chandana. “Mass production, high cadence launches, and reusability can help us achieve that, which could take more years,” he adds.
So, we need more private space companies, be it for developing launch vehicles or crew modules, or to provide a concierge service. “Greater participation by the private sector will activate the economy of scale,” says Chandana.
Safety remains another concern. On October 31, 2014, VSS Enterprise, a SpaceShipTwo spaceflight test vehicle operated by Virgin Galactic, suffered a catastrophic in-flight breakup during a test flight and crashed in the Mojave Desert near Cantil, California. While co-pilot Michael Alsbury was killed, pilot Peter Siebold was seriously injured, as per reports.
Space tourism is still a very niche sector segment, says Lt Gen Bhatt of ISpA. “It requires high expertise in human safe launch vehicles and also in the ELSS system, which will take time to develop. Also, apart from safety aspects, substantial reduction in launch costs is crucial to make space tourism accessible to a wider public,” he adds.
Mission milestones
2001: US businessman & engineer Dennis Tito becomes first ever space tourist to travel to space
2006: Anousheh Ansari, an Iranian-American businesswoman, becomes first female space tourist
2009: American businessman Charles Simonyi becomes first repeat space tourist, after making his first trip to ISS in 2007
2021: Inspiration4 mission, launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9, spends three days in orbit aboard Crew Dragon Resilience, becoming first all-civilian crew to fly orbital space mission
2024: Jared Isaacman and Sarah Gillis perform first commercial spacewalk during Polaris Dawn spaceflight operated by SpaceX. India-born aviator and commercial pilot Gopi Thotakura becomes first space tourist from India, flying aboard Blue Origin spacecraft