Space Tourism Highlights for 2022
8 Top Space Tourism Highlights for 2022
by Izzy House
Space Marketing author and host
The roaring 2020s will be remembered as the decade when space opened up to commercial citizens. This past year has seen a continuation of growth within the space tourism industry. Here are eight highlights from the year.
2022 Space Tourism Highlights:
Axiom-1 Private Astronaut Mission
Axiom Space made history on April 8, 2022. The four-person multinational crew of Ax-1 made history as the first all-private astronaut mission to the International Space Station, marking a pivotal step toward the fruition of the Axiom Station, the world’s first commercial space station.?
The crew was composed of Commander Michael Lopez-Alegria , Pilot Larry Connor, and Mission Specialists Eytan Stibbe and Mark Pathy. Each of the passengers had research missions they conducted on behalf of other organizations, including work with the Canadian and Israeli space agencies, health studies for the Mayo Clinic , Cleveland Clinic , and the Montreal Childrens Hospital . They returned to Earth after spending an extended stay of 15? days on the International Space Station National Laboratory .
Blue Origin has been very consistent with its space tourism launches. This past Fall, they celebrate a year of space tourism flights and have flown 31 humans above the Kármán line.?
Jared Isaacman spent 2022 preparing for the Polaris Dawn Mission slated to launch in March 2023. This SpaceX flight plans to conduct the first commercial spacewalk and endeavors to reach the highest Earth orbit ever flown. In addition to conducting several important scientific research projects, it will be the first crew to test SpaceX 's Starlink laser-based communications in space and provide valuable data for future space communications systems necessary for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond.
The crew consists of Jared Isaacman, Mission Commander; Scott "Kidd" Poteet , Mission Pilot; Sarah Gillis , Mission Specialist; and Anna Menon ( Anna M. ), Mission Specialist & Medical Officer.?
On December 8, 2022, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa announced the selection of the dearMoon team. The dearMoon mission features the world's first space tourist who has signed up to spin around the moon aboard Elon Musk's Starship. A lunar tourism mission and art project conceived and financed by Yusaku Maezawa will use the SpaceX Starship spacecraft on a private spaceflight flying a single circumlunar trajectory for six days around the Moon. Maezawa selected eight other civilians this past December including creative people such as artists, musicians, and photographers. This team will be able to take their experiences and share them with the world.
The dearMoon crew selection is T.O.P., lead rapper for Big Bang; American DJ Steve Aoki; American filmmaker Brendan Hall, and YouTube star Tim Dodd. The other four crew members are British photographer Karim Illiya, Indian actor Dev Joshi, Czech artist Yemi AD, and Irish photographer Rhiannon Adam. American Olympic snowboarder Kaitlyn Farrington and Japanese dancer Miyu were chosen as backups.
It is scheduled to launch in 2023.?
领英推荐
Space Perspective acquires the first in a fleet of ships to be converted into a marine spaceport in November 2022. Space Perspective unveiled MS* Voyager – the world’s first ocean-based spaceport for human spaceflight. It is the first of its kind in a planned fleet for a new class of global spaceports. The first space tourism launch is expected in 2024.??
*Marine Spaceport
Space tourism pioneer Dennis Tito books a private moon trip for him and his wife, Akiko, with SpaceX on its Starship rocket. This is the third spaceflight the Elon Musk venture has announced.
Tito is considered to be the first private space tourist after flying with Russia to the International Space Station National Laboratory in 2001.
Space Tourism Conference
Space Tourism Conference had its first in-person conference since the pandemic on April 28, 2022. This spectacular event celebrated one of the most impressive years for space tourism. The next Space Tourism Conference is scheduled for April 28, 2023.?
Hilton is the official hotel partner of Nanoracks LLC ’s Voyager Space Starlab Space Station. Starlab is the planned free-flying commercial space station that will have the capacity to continuously host up to four astronauts. It will house the George Washington Carver (GWC) Science Park. Hilton will work with Voyager Space, a global provider of spacecraft technology, to bring hospitality expertise and experience in the design and development of crew suites aboard Starlab thereby “helping to reimagine the human experience in space, making extended stays more comfortable.”
Excerpt from Hilton’s article - “Voyager and Hilton will partner in the areas of architecture and design, leveraging Hilton’s world-class creative design and innovation experts, to develop Space Hospitality crew headquarters aboard Starlab, including communal areas, hospitality suites and sleeping arrangements for the astronauts.”
Conclusion
In 2021, space tourism experienced a banner year that continued into 2022. As we enter into the New Year, space tourism will expand into 2023.
ABOUT IZZY HOUSE
Space Marketing is at the heart of Izzy’s career. She combined both of her passions of marketing and space into one expertise.
Author of Space Marketing: Competing in the new commercial space industry
Podcast host for Space Marketing Podcast
Organizer for Space for Kentucky Roundtable -
Automationist. Entrepreneur. Creator. ?? ???? | Bring Them Home. Now. ???????
1 年The Hilton news was my favorite — A brand move like that made it clear how far into the future we are.