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Virgin Galactic

UAE ready to fuel space tourism

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UAE space travelUAE investors is looking towards space for investments as the $7.5 billion USD space tourism industry is set to take off.

The Emirates Institution for Advanced Science and Technology (EIAST) and US-based Bigelow Aerospace recently signed a memorandum to establish a commercial human space flight programme for Dubai and the UAE.

Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic, which is partly owned by Abu Dhabi based Aabar, also plans to bring space tourism to the United Arab Emirates by building a space port in Abu Dhabi as soon as it gets approvals from US authorities.

At the moment the cost of a return ticket to outer space for the first flights is between $95,000 and $200,000, depending on the flight provider, but these prices are expected to fall as capacity increases. Some experts estimate that the typical price to fly into space by 2030 will be around $25,000. More on Gulfnews.

World’s first commercial spacecraft unveiled

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Virgin Galactic on Monday unveiled SpaceShipTwo, their newest vessel and the world’s first commercial spacecraft. Virgin Galatic founder Richard Branson talked to Discovery News (filmed in July) about his latest innovation…

The ticket to space would cost $200,000 USD and 300 people have already put in their deposit. It’s not cheap in any sense; but it’s far more affordable (and probably safer and more comfortable) than other previous options.

If the development goes well, in a few decades time the cost could drop to something that a commoner could really dream about. And as Branson pointed out, it could revolutionise the current flight system as well.

This guy never fails to amaze me; he tried to make everything cheaper (flight, cruise, space) which in turn makes himself really really rich, and deservingly so.