What is keeping space tourism from becoming reality?

The technology that allows people to go to space has been developed years ago and the number of commercial enterprises for space tourism is steadily increasing. Therefore, it is only logical to presume that space tourism will soon, that is in the next few years, become reality. However, one very important question remains unanswered: What is taking so long? If the technology already exists and people actually want to go to space (which is confirmed by numerous surveys), then what is keeping space tourism from becoming reality? 

In order to answer this question we first have to think about what space tourism, or for that matter tourism in general, is all about. Tourism is generally acknowledged to be 'the commercial organization and operation of holidays and visits to places of interest'. Space tourism describes 'the practice of travelling into space for recreational purposes'. So, basically tourism and space tourism are the exact same thing. The small, yet significant, difference is that space tourism takes place in space and tourism takes place on earth. What they both have in common is that people offering various (space) tourism options want to earn money with it. On earth every country has its borders which clearly encircle every country's area of acitvity. In space, however, the restriction of areas of activity poses a huge problem, not to say the biggest one.

As we already know from my previous blog posts, space tourism will most likely include space hotels where people will be able to spend their orbital holiday. So, who decides who can claim which area? Will individuals be able to buy certain areas, for example space on the moon or on the Mars? If so, who is going to get the money? And, most importantly, how do you restrict areas in space? There are so many questions which are yet to be answered and all of them present a big problem, especially regarding the ongoing suspiciousness between the two main agents in space, the Russian Federation and the USA. 

For the time being the Outer Space Treaty forbids nations to claim a celestial resource such as the Moon or a planet and declares all kinds of celestial resources as common heritage of mankind. However, any nation that wishes to launch space objects is allowed to do so. The treaty which is formally known as the Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies entered into force on October 10th, 1967 and was signed by more than 100 countries. Nevertheless, any country can withdraw from this treaty whenever it wants to. What is more, it unfortunately does not specify whether indivuals are allowed to buy property in space to build space hotels. The question concerning the legality of acquiring property in space and of space tourism in general will probably result in numerous lively debates and consequently delay the realization of space tourism for yet another couple of years.

What is more, notably the high costs are keeping space tourism from becoming reality. Travelling to space is simply too expensive for ordinary people. So, I am sorry to disappoint you, but unless you are a millionaire, you will probably not be able to afford going to space in the next few years. The main reason for the high costs is that the vehicles created for flying people to space are either expendable entirely, like satellite launchers, or partly, like space shuttles. The creation of reusable vehicles would significantly decrease the costs. 

A great deal of safety issues is also considerably setting back the development of space tourism. It is important to clearly understand the risks of flying to space before actually doing so. Accidents caused by overly hasty production could seriously trouble the industry if the public sees it as too dangerous. Alltogether, space travel, while desirable, is just too hazardous to become a major tourist activity at the moment. 

Moreover, space toursim still lacks medical standards for the time being. Casual space travelers present new questions for doctors who are uncertain about how to assess somebody as fit enough for flying to space or not. However, it is unlikely that only completely healthy people will be allowed to fly to space, as is the case with professional astronauts. Furthermore, there are a lot of health issues to worry about in zero gravity, such as bone loss, blurry vision and loss of slow-twitch muscles. All of these hazards need to be clearly understood  before flying people to space.   


http://www.space.com/24249-commercial-space-travel-blasts-off-2014.html
http://www.spaceportassociates.com/pdf/tourism_history.pdf
http://www.space.com/25181-private-space-travel-risk-cost-debate.html