TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction A Star-Studded Debut 4 Chapter 1 The First Fliers 8 Chapter 2 The Top Tours 18 Chapter 3 A Rough Ride 30 Chapter 4 A Framework for Space Tourism 36 What’s Next 41 Source Notes 44 Glossary 45 Selected Bibliography 46 Further Reading 46 Index 47
INTRODUCTION A STAR STUDDED DEBUT Richard Branson introduces Virgin Galactic’s new spacecraft Unity The air was electric inside a big hangar aircraft shed at the Mojave Air and Space Port in Southern California Music pounded and a crowd of people flocked to a stage beneath dazzling blue lights Something exciting was about to happen The date was February 19 2016 and Virgin Galactic a pioneering space tourism company was about to unveil its newest spaceship Unity To loud applause a white Range Rover drove onto the stage with the sleek and shiny spacecraft in tow Virgin Galactic founder Richard Branson a British businessman proudly introduced Unity to the crowd 4
Harrison Ford attends the unveiling of Unity inset A crowd gathers to get a closer look at Unity below The gathering was a star-studded event Actor Harrison Ford who played Han Solo in four Star Wars movies was there Malala Yousafzai who had earned worldwide honors for fighting for the rights of girls in her native Pakistan praised the new spaceship in a video shown at the event It’s such a great work she said And it’s a way that we are inspiring young people in this whole world to explore more to go farther and to have no boundaries 5
