Are you tired of Lake Como? Bored by your round-the-world cruise on the Queen Elizabeth? Well cheer up, because there’s finally a way to really get away from it all.
Axiom Space, which bills itself as the first commercial space station, said Wednesday it’ll offer seven- to 10-day vacations on the International Space Station as early as 2020, according to The New York Times. At $55 million a person, the cost is equally out of this world. The company plans to launch its habitation pods connected to the ISS in 2022.
Since the first space tourist, Dennis Tito, was taken to space on a Russian rocket in 2001, space travel has been a hot topic among Earthers. Various companies have offered tourism packages in low Earth orbit for millions of dollars. These include startup Orion Span’s luxury space hotel, Aurora Station, scheduled to open in 2022. And Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic aims to become the first commercial spaceline. Tickets will cost $250,000 a passenger.
Axiom, led by NASA’s former ISS Program Manager Michael Suffredini, hasn’t provided specific details yet but will likely rely on the likes of SpaceX and Boeing to ferry vacationers beyond the stratosphere. The current floor plan of the facility includes crew quarters, a dining area and a galley. The company will also give tourists a 15-week training course before their flight.
Axiom didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
And since the ISS is scheduled to retire in 2024, Axiom plans to separate its habitation area from ISS and establish its own station, according to the company’s website. Axiom says it also welcomes researchers and entrepreneurs who want to build in-space manufacturing facilities.
