10.04.2022

In a historic mission, the private space company SpaceX and NASA have transported paying space tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) for the first time. On Friday, three businessmen lifted off from the Cape Canaveral spaceport in Florida after paying 55 million dollars each for their tickets.

The mission marks a significant milestone in the commercial space industry. SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, has set itself the goal of democratising access to space and giving not only astronauts but also private individuals the opportunity to travel into space. The collaboration with NASA enables SpaceX to utilise the infrastructure of the ISS and at the same time generate revenue from the sale of tickets.

On board this SpaceX mission were the American Larry Connor, the Canadian Mark Pathy and the Israeli Eytan Stibbe. Astronaut Lopez-Algeria, who had already spent seven months on the ISS 15 years ago, described the flight as "a great ride".
The flight cost 55 million dollars each and included not only the transport to the ISS, but also the stay on board the space station for a certain period of time. Such space tourism missions are expected to become more common in the future as technology advances and the cost of access to space decreases.

TWO SPACE COMPANIES WORK TOGETHER

The launch took place from the Cape Canaveral Space Centre in Florida, one of the most famous locations for rocket launches in the world. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket was used for this mission and brought the crew safely into orbit.After reaching Earth orbit, the spacecraft docked with the ISS, where the space tourists will live and work for a period of time.The collaboration between SpaceX and NASA is an example of the growing partnership between government space agencies and private companies.While NASA continues to send its own astronauts to the ISS, it also allows commercial companies such as SpaceX access to the space station.This not only promotes scientific research in space, but also opens up new economic opportunities for the space industry.

This first successful flight of paying space tourists to the ISS is undoubtedly a historic moment in space history.It shows that the dream of space tourism is getting closer and closer and that private companies like SpaceX are playing a crucial role in realising this dream.