Space Tourism

6 March 2006

Going Where No Tourist Has Gone Before

Today is the dawning of a new age—an age where individuals with a spare $20 million can partake of space flight. Natural industry evolution implies that perhaps in the not too distant future, such an opportunity will be open to the average consumer. Although such space tourism will not necessarily be an alternative to a weekend at the beach, it will, for many people, be an alternative to other outdoor adventures.

The present study examined the demand for space tourism alternatives by using state of the art discrete choice modelling approaches to determine the valuation of the underlying components of a space tourism adventure. Unlike previous survey based approaches, the methods used here provide more accurate assessments of potential demand by not only providing realistic information about space tourism alternatives but comparing the potential choices to realistic alternatives.

The general findings of this study reveal that:

• Potential consumers do exhibit price sensitivity. At a price of $50,000 approximately 20 percent of people would opt for a sub-orbital space flight. Above $200,000 this number is halved to 10 percent.
• Potential consumers prefer American and Australian operators to those from Japan, Germany, the UK and Russia.
• Potential consumers are affected strongly by the safety record of an operator.
• The vertical rocket launch is the preferred mode. A rocket plane is the least preferred mode of reaching space.
• Males and younger individuals are more likely to take a space tourism adventure.
• There is a strong relationship between asset ownership and space tourism choice. The effect of assets is stronger than the effect of income.
• Orbital space tourists are far more “thrill seeking” than other space tourists. Some space tourism adventures are simply not stimulating enough for these individuals.