Space tourism is human space travel for recreational purposes. There are several different types of space tourism, including orbital, suborbital and lunar space tourism. Tourists are motivated by the possibility of viewing Earth from space, feeling weightlessness, experiencing extremely high speed and something unusual, and contributing to science.
Private spaceflight refers to spaceflight activities undertaken by non-governmental entities, such as corporations, individuals, or non-profit organizations. This contrasts with public spaceflight, which is traditionally conducted by government agencies like NASA, ESA, or JAXA.
Virgin Galactic Holdings, Inc. is a British-American spaceflight company founded by Richard Branson and the Virgin Group conglomerate which retains an 11.9% stake through Virgin Investments Limited. It is headquartered in California, and operates from New Mexico. The company develops commercial spacecraft and provides suborbital spaceflights to space tourists. Virgin Galactic's suborbital spacecraft are air launched from beneath a carrier airplane known as White Knight Two. Virgin Galactic's maiden spaceflight occurred in 2018 with its VSS Unity spaceship. Branson had originally hoped to see a maiden spaceflight by 2010, but the date was delayed for several years, after some time then was delayed again, primarily due to the October 2014 crash of VSS Enterprise.
Benjamin Alvin Drew Jr. is a United States Air Force officer and a former NASA astronaut. He has been on two spaceflights; the first was the Space Shuttle mission STS-118 to the International Space Station, in August 2007. Drew's second spaceflight took place in March 2011 on STS-133, another mission to the International Space Station. STS-133 was Space Shuttle Discovery's final mission. Drew took part in two spacewalks while docked to the station. Drew was the final African-American to fly on board a Space Shuttle, as the final two Space Shuttle missions, STS-134 and STS-135, had no African-American crew members.
A commercial astronaut is a person who has commanded, piloted, or served as an active crew member of a privately funded spacecraft. This is distinct from an otherwise non-government astronaut, for example Charlie Walker, who flies while representing a non-government corporation but with funding or training or both coming from government sources.
Steve Isakowitz is the President and CEO of The Aerospace Corporation assuming the position on October 1, 2016. The Aerospace Corporation is a leading architect for the nation's national security and civil space programs with more than 4,000 employees and annual revenues of $1.1 billion. Isakowitz is a recognized leader across the government, private, space, and technology sectors, having served in prominent roles at Virgin Galactic, the U.S. Department of Energy, NASA, and the White House Office of Management and Budget. He is the co-author of the AIAA International Reference Guide to Space Launch Systems, which received the Summerfield Book Award in 2003.
Namira Salim is a Pakistani polar adventurer, astronaut and artist based in Monaco and Dubai. On the recommendation of the Pakistani government, she was in 2011 appointed as an honorary consul of Pakistan to Monaco, following her efforts to establish diplomatic relations between the two countries. She is the first Pakistani to have reached both the North Pole and the South Pole. Salim is the only Pakistani among the first 100 aspiring space tourists to purchase a ticket for Virgin Galactic's future commercial space liner. She became the first Pakistani astronaut, the first astronaut from Monaco, and the first female astronaut from the UAE to travel to space, traveling aboard Virgin Galactic on 6th October, 2023.
The Commercial Spaceflight Federation is a private spaceflight industry group, incorporated as an industry association for the purposes of establishing ever higher levels of safety for the commercial human spaceflight industry, sharing best practices and expertise, and promoting the growth of the industry worldwide. Issues that the Commercial Spaceflight Federation works on include, but are not limited to, airspace issues, FAA regulations and permits, industry safety standards, public outreach, and public advocacy for the commercial space sector.
Kellie Gerardi is an American social media influencer, customer support and media professional in private spaceflight, and commercial citizen scientist who is known for her sub-orbital spaceflight with Virgin Galactic and candidacy for the Mars One mission.
Patricia Grace Smith was a United States Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) associate administrator whose regulatory work helped make personal space travel a possibility.
Loral Ashley O'Hara is an American engineer and NASA astronaut.
The Brooke Owens Fellowship is a non-profit program in the United States that provides paid internships and executive mentorship for undergraduate women seeking a career in aviation or space exploration. The fellowship was created to honor the memory of Brooke Owens, a pilot and space policy expert who died of cancer at the age of 35.
Dawn Brooke Owens was an American pilot and space policy expert. She worked with NASA, the Federal Aviation Administration and the White House. The Brooke Owens Fellowship was established in 2017 to honour the considerable contributions Owens made to the American space industry.
VP-03 was a sub-orbital spaceflight of the SpaceShipTwo-class VSS Unity which took place on 13 December 2018, piloted by Mark P. Stucky and co-piloted by Frederick W. "CJ" Sturckow.
Beth Moses is chief space flight participant instructor and interiors program manager for Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo program, and is a commercial astronaut, as classified by the Federal Aviation Administration. She was the first woman to make a spaceflight on a commercially launched vehicle, the VSS Unity VF-01 flight of 22 February 2019. She was also part of the six-member crew that flew in the first fully-crewed test flight to space on July 11, 2021, aboard VSS Unity.
Sirisha Bandla is an Indian-American aeronautical engineer and space tourist. She is the Vice President of Government Affairs and Research Operations for Virgin Galactic. She flew on the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 mission which made her the second India-born woman to go to space and the fourth person of Indian descent ever to go past the line of space after Rakesh Sharma, Kalpana Chawla and Sunita Williams.
The Matthew Isakowitz Fellowship is a non-profit program in the United States that provided paid internships and executive mentorship to exceptional undergraduate and graduate students seeking careers in commercial space for nearly a decade. The fellowship was created in memory of Matthew Isakowitz, an American aerospace engineer and early contributor to the field of commercial spaceflight who died at the age of 29.
The Zed Factor Fellowship is a non-profit program in the United States that provides paid internships and executive mentorship to underrepresented undergraduate and graduate students seeking careers in aerospace. The fellowship was founded in 2020 and is closely modeled on programs such as the Brooke Owens Fellowship.
