Katy Perry, all-female crew go to space: Is space tourism worth it?

The journey that Perry and other women embarked upon, and the attention it garnered showcased the rising popularity of space tourism. While the industry was valued at $848.28 million in 2023, it reached $1.3 billion last year, according to a report by Research and Markets. By 2030, the industry is estimated to touch $6.7 billion, growing at the rate of 31.6% between 2024 and 2030.

However, as the space tourism industry has grown by leaps and bounds, the concerns — from how expensive the ticket to space is to environmental impacts — around it have also increased.

Here is a look at these concerns.

But first, what exactly is space tourism?

Space tourism is a section of the aviation sector which seeks to provide tourists with the opportunity to become astronauts and experience space travel for recreational, leisure, or business purposes, according to the book ‘Air Transport: A Tourism Perspective’, edited by Anne Graham and Frederic Dobruszkes.

There are two main types of space tourism, sub-orbital and orbital. The sub-orbital spacecraft takes passengers just beyond the Kármán line. The passengers get to spend a few minutes in space and then come back to Earth.

The orbital spacecraft, on the other hand, takes passengers much further than the Kármán line. Usually, passengers can spend from a couple of days to more than a week at an altitude of nearly 1.3 million feet.

There are three major private players in the industry, Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX. All of them executed their first missions in 2021.

What are the concerns around space tourism?

LACK OF ACCESSIBILITY: Currently, space tourism is accessible to only the super-rich. A passenger generally has to pay at least a million dollars to reach outer space. For instance, Blue Origin has not released full ticket prices, a $150,000 deposit is required to reserve a seat. A journey to space on a Virgin Galactic spacecraft costs about $450,000, according to space.com.

That is the reason why Blue Origin’s latest mission came under fire after the company suggested the all-female crew represented a moment of feminist progress.

Olivia Munn, an actress, called the trip “a bit gluttonous” during a TV interview. “I know this is not the cool thing to say, but there are so many other things that are so important in the world right now… What are you guys going to do up in space?” she said.

Apart from Perry, the crew also included Bezos’s fiancée Lauren Sánchez, CBS presenter Gayle King, former NASA rocket scientist Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, and film producer Kerianne Flynn.

NOT A DRIVER OF INNOVATION: Over the years, supporters of space tourism have argued that the industry can provide several benefits. For example, space tourists can carry out experiments such as the effects of microgravity on human health, plant growth, and material properties. This can help scientists prepare for future space missions.

However, so far, experiments conducted during space tourism missions have not been able to provide any breakthrough innovation. “Those experiments haven’t exactly been revolutionary or consisted of anything that couldn’t be done by astronauts on the ISS. So space tourism isn’t really advancing human spaceflight in any significant way,” according to a report in space.com.

Also, technologies being developed by private companies for space tourism are unlikely to be useful for other space-related activities such as industrial and scientific applications, the report said.

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: Several studies have pointed out that space tourism may lead to environmental damage as rockets emit gaseous and solid chemicals directly into the upper atmosphere.

For instance, nitrogen oxides emitted during rocket launches can deplete the ozone layer by converting ozone into oxygen. This could threaten the recovery of the ozone layer which took place after the phasing out of chlorofluorocarbons.

The soot emissions from rocket launches are far more effective at warming the atmosphere compared to other sources, according to a 2022 study by researchers based at University College London (UCL), the University of Cambridge, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).

It is for these reasons why most experts remain skeptical about space tourism and its so-called benefits. They have repeatedly highlighted that the money and resources spent on such recreational trips could be better used to push climate and environmental action on Earth.