[Satellite News 02-22-11] U.S.-based space manufacturer XCOR Aerospace is set to unveil an update of its Lynx commercial space flight vehicle, which it hopes will capitalize on the blooming space tourism market.
    The company anticipates commercial flights in the U.S. to start in late 2012, with production Lynx vehicles flying internationally by 2014. XCOR COO Andrew Nelson told Satellite News that he believes the space tourism market constitutes 250,000 to 300,000 potential customers travelling into space by 2030. “With each passenger paying $25,000 to travel, we’re looking at an industry worth up to $7.5 billion,” he said.
    XCOR has signed Lynx vehicle leases with South Korea’s Yecheon Astro Space Center and the Netherlands-based Space Experience Curacao (SXC). The deals, which represent more than $50 million of back orders, will see Yecheon, SXC and XCOR market and operate suborbital space tourism and scientific research flights out of the Netherlands Antilles.
    Nelson said KLM Royal Dutch Airlines has signed on to co-market SXC flights and include them in their frequent flyer program. “Our current lease order book is quite healthy and robust, and we’re making engines for other customers. We’re also seeking potential investors and partners interested to co-develop and fund these programs. We believe the investment is attractive due to the market’s relative liquidity,” said Nelson.
    The Middle East region is a crucial investor in the future of commercial space travel. In July 2009, Virgin Galactic raised $280 million for its space tourism efforts by selling a 32 percent stake in the operation to Aabar Investments of Abu Dhabi. Aabar has also invested $100 million to build a spaceport in Abu Dhabi in order to launch satellites and to guarantee exclusive regional rights to host tourist and scientific space flights for the Arab Emirates country. Aabar’s largest shareholder behind the deal is International Petroleum Investment Co., owned by the Abu Dhabi government.  
    Bigelow Aerospace also set up investment deals with United Arab Emirates’ groups and established the value of the first tickets to outer space between $95,000 and $200,000. The Global Space & Satellite Forum (GSSF) estimates that the typical price to fly into space by 2030 will be around $25,000.
    In January, Space Adventures, a commercial manned space travel company, finalized an agreement with the Russian Federal Space Agency and Rocket Space Corp. Energia (RSC Energia) to sell three seats on a Soyuz spacecraft travelling to the International Space Station (ISS) beginning in 2013.
    Space Adventures will offer three short-duration flights — about 10 days — and will contribute to an increase of launch capacity to the ISS from four to five spacecraft per year.  “We were first in the space tourism marketplace, and we are glad to expand our capabilities by adding a fifth Soyuz and to use these three additional opportunities for commercial flight participants,” RSC Energia President Vitaly Lopota said in a statement.
    In 2001, Space Adventures launched Dennis Tito, the world’s first privately funded space explorer, to the ISS. Since then, the company has arranged seven additional missions. Russian space agency officials said the addition of a fifth Soyuz spacecraft to its current manifest would add flexibility and redundancy to its ISS transportation capabilities.