For the first time in U.S. history, NASA will permit private travel to the International Space Station (ISS).
But space travel doesn’t come cheap. Tourist missions to the ISS will cost approximately $50 million per seat – and that only covers your flight to the station. The actual stay at the ISS will run you an estimated $35,000 per night.
Boeing and Elon Musk’s SpaceX are currently developing the launch systems to make the program possible.
This move reverses NASA’s previous ban on private travel to the space station and will open the ISS up for further commercial opportunities. The U.S. space agency has already started working with 11 different private companies to install 14 commercial entreprises on the space station that will support NASA research projects.
The shift towards privatizing the space station follows the U.S. government’s decision to defund the ISS starting in 2025. Since NASA plans to return to the moon by 2024, the decision to open the ISS to private citizens may be to ensure a financially stable future for the space agency.
