S P A C E Your Next Holiday Destination? If the world is too small for your next dream getaway, consider the next frontier in travel: Space. A ticket to the stars is more science than fiction these days, with several private companies now close to offering the adventure of a lifetime. Here’s a look at three available options. by Sandy Ong

high enough v bject reaches a elocity to orbit hen an o around E rth): W arth ve Ea abo iles 0 m (15 SpaceShipTwo bit 68 miles Or

e Earth): The Kárm 2 miles abov án line mark orbit (6 s where Sub- Earth ’s at mos pher e en ds Lynx and sp Prototype: 38 miles ac e b Production model: 62 miles eg ins

World View Enterprises 20 miles

Virgin Galactic XCOR Aerospace SpaceShipTwo Lynx spacecraft High-altitude balloon

Company founder(s) Richard Branson Jeff Greason Jane Poynter, Taber MacCallum,

Company vision “Democratizing access to space “To make the dream of space flight “To take voyagers on the journey for the benefit of life on Earth” a reality for everyone who seeks it” of a lifetime”

Journey Spaceship is carried by jet aircraft Horizontal take-off, reaching 3x High-altitude helium balloon carries WhiteKnightTwo to 50,000 feet and the speed of sound in one minute. a specially designed capsule to released. Rocket engines fire for Engine cuts off and Lynx coasts cruising altitude. Helium vented from acceleration to 3.5x the speed of sound. upwards, reaching maximum altitude balloon for descent. Balloon is then Engines shut down and spaceship in five minutes. Spacecraft glides. released and a parafoil guides glides. Wings used to guide landing. Horizontal landing on runway. capsule to a soft landing.

Destination Sub-orbital space Sub-orbital space Sub-orbital space (68 miles or 110 km) (Prototype: 38 miles or 61 km (20 miles or 32 km) Actual model: 68 miles or 110 km)

Vehicle 12 large windows (12 feet by 7.5 feet) Full glass canopy (45.2 square feet) Luxury capsule with wi-fi (10 feet by 20 feet) Passengers can float around and Passenger remains seated throughout Passengers can walk around after take-off experience weightlessness when the flight and enjoy the ‘immersive viewing bubbles’ spaceship is gliding and mini-bar

Capacity 6 passengers 1 passenger 6 passengers 2 pilots 1 pilot 2 pilots

Flight time 2.5 hours 30–60 minutes 4–6 hours (5 minutes of weightlessness) (6 minutes of weightlessness) (2 hours in sub-orbit; no weightlessness)

Price $250,000 $150,000 $75,000

Tickets sold Over 700 100 on Lynx Mark II (production model) On sale; no details released – sold out; other programs available on tickets sold

Preparation & • Pre-flight preparation course • Over 18 years, under 249 lbs • Over 10 years of age Requirements (3 days) • Medical examination • No medical examination • Physical agility test or training required • Academic course (1 day) • 4G aerobatic training

Test flights The first SpaceShipTwo crashed in First test flights of Lynx scheduled for Key test flight successfully completed in Oct. 2014 on its 55th test flight; one 2016. XCOR rocket engines have been Oct. 2015 — balloon flew a 10% scale crew killed, one injured. New version of tested in two different aircrafts over 66 replica of the capsule to a target altitude spacecraft to be unveiled on Feb. 19, flights and over 5,000 rocket tests have of over 18 miles. Full-scale capsule to be with flight testing to begin soon after. been conducted without incident. tested in summer 2016; manned test flights in summer 2017.

Launch date Unconfirmed 2017–2018 end 2017/early 2018

Website www.virgingalactic.com www.xcor.com worldviewexperience.com

[Image credits: Jeff Foust | CC BY 2.0; William Murphy | CC BY-SA 2.0; with permission from World View Enterprises]