I'd like to revisit the commercialization of the space industry for my final blog. I spent most of the first time around talking about how the idea for commercialization circled around the X Prize competition from 1996. While this was the biggest deal of the recent past to attempt to send civilians into space, it was not the first. The first major idea came from Pan American World Airways in their "First Moon Flight" vouchers that began in 1968 and ran until 1971 issuing over 93,000 vouchers to customers who were promised trips to the moon once it became possible. "Between 1968 and 1971, Pan Am issued over 93,000 "First Moon Flights" club cards to space enthusiasts eager to make a reservation for the first commercial flight to the moon."(Haupt, 2015) The vouchers were issued at no price and were issued using priority numbers. Initially, Pan Am had thought that the first flight was going to depart in 2000, unfortunately, the company went out of business in 1991. The club was thought to have originated in 1964 as a waitlist of people who were interested in commercial space flights.
Even though to just over 93,000 very excited people flying to the moon seemed out of the question and it was not big news for most of the world, commercializing space flight was not completely forgotten. X Prize was born and like mentioned in my earlier blog, was won by a team from Mojave Aerospace Ventures when their "Space Ship One" reached space twice in a one week period. This really opened the door for commercial space flight as it proved that it is possible. Virgin Atlantic created the successor to Space Ship One and called it Space Ship Two, a 6 seat aircraft that was capable of space flight just like the predecessor and seats go for $250,000 a ticket. According to space.com "Other companies are getting into the mix, too. For instance, XCOR Aerospace is developing a one-passenger suborbital rocket plane called Lynx that may get up and running around the same time that Space Ship Two does."(Wall, 2014) As of now, the Lynx is still not finished and has been halted for the time being.
Space travel is not new, nor is the concept of commercial space travel. Companies are always getting closer to making it a practical option to travel to space. Some people have made the trip already at extremely large prices. The goal is to reduce the prices of travel so it can be more practical to the public, however, it seems like these companies are having more roadblock problems than successes. Space X has been successful in taking over the space industry in a commercial role not as a passenger outfit, but as essentially a cargo operation supplying and performing maintenance on the space stations.
As stated in my previous blog, I do think that commercial space travel will be more feasible one day but it is not going to be anytime soon. However, when that day comes, I would love to be able to see it for myself because I think it is a great concept and could open a lot of doors for future exploration.
References:
Haupt, T. (2015, July 31). Were You a Member of the. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from https://airandspace.si.edu/stories/editorial/were-you-member-“first-moon-flights”-club
Pan Am and the waiting list for the moon…. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://backstoryradio.org/2013/08/19/pan-am-and-the-waiting-list-for-the-moon/
Wall, M. (2014, October 3). Private Spaceflight Era Launched with SpaceShipOne 10 Years Ago. Retrieved December 11, 2016, from http://www.space.com/27339-spaceshipone-xprize-launched-commercial-spaceflight.html
XCOR Lynx. (n.d.). Retrieved December 11, 2016, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/XCOR_Lynx
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