Space Colonization
While humans have long imagined gods in the sky, the idea of space travel or humans living in space dates to at least 1610 after the invention of the telescope, when German astronomer Johannes Kepler wrote to Italian astronomer Galileo:
Let us create vessels and sails adjusted to the heavenly ether, and there will be plenty of people unafraid of the empty wastes. In the meantime, we shall prepare, for the brave sky-travellers, maps of the celestial bodies. [1]
In popular culture, space travel dates back to at least the mid-1600s when Cyrano de Bergerac first wrote of traveling to space in a rocket. Space fantasies flourished after Jules Verne’s From Earth to the Moon was published in 1865 and after RKO Pictures released a film adaptation of the book, A Trip to the Moon, in 1902. Dreams of space settlement hit a zenith in the 1950s, spurred by the release of Ray Bradbury’s si-fi classic The Martian Chronicles (1950) and Disneyland’s TV episode “Man and the Moon” (1955). [2][3][4]
Fueling popular imagination in the 1950s was the American space race with the Soviet Union (Russia), amid which NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) was formed in the United States on July 29, 1958, when President Dwight D. Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act into law. Although the Russians put the first person in space (Yuri Gagarinon April 12, 1961), NASA put the first people on the Moon (Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on July 20, 1969). What was once science fiction had become reality. [5][6][7][8]
Over the next six decades, NASA launched space stations, sent land rovers to Mars, flew past Pluto, orbited Jupiter, and engaged in numerous international missions, including joint efforts with its former nemesis, Russia. NASA’s space shuttle program began in 1981 using a reusable rocket-launched vehicle. It made 135 flights, delivering supplies to space stations, conducting experiments in space, and deploying and servicing satellites. The program ended in 2011.[7][8][10][83]
Another key development was the rise of space tourism and companies to facilitate it. Space Adventures, a Virginia-based company founded in 1998 that does not launch space flights but matches private citizens with missions already scheduled to launch, organized the flight of American businessman Dennis Tito, who on April 28, 2001, became the first space tourist when he joined a Russian supply mission to the International Space Station (ISS). The trip cost $20 million.[50][52][53][69][70][71]
Several private, commercial space flight companies were then founded, including Jeff Bezo’s Blue Origin (2000), Elon Musk’s SpaceX (2002), and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic (2004). While Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic have focused on sub-orbital flights with private citizens, SpaceX partnered with NASA, which allowed the American government to end its reliance on Russian space flights to travel to the ISS. [51][55][56][58][59][60][81]
The ISS continues to operate as a floating laboratory in Earth’s orbit. It has been continuously occupied by astronauts since November 2000. According to NASA, 280 individuals representing 23 countries and five International Partners had visited the space station, with astronauts spending an average of 182 days (about six months) aboard the ISS. Of those, 13 have been “space flight participants” (or private, non-astronaut guests). Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko flew to the ISS five times and spent the longest time in space, breaking the record in February 2024; he amassed 1,111 days in space over numerous missions. [18][19][40][41][80]
According to a 2023 poll, 56 percent of Americans believed NASA would “get people onto Mars by its goal of 2040,” while 43 percent believed that within 50 years “at least some people will be living in space permanently — either on another planet such as Mars or on the moon.” The most common ideas for space colonization include settling on Earth’s Moon, building on Mars, and constructing new space stations. [20][42]
As of May 1, 2025, three countries had space programs with human space flight capabilities: China, Russia, and the United States. NASA’s ongoing Artemis program intends to return humans to the Moon, landing the first woman on the lunar surface. NASA has also launched the Europa Clipper, a robotic, solar-powered vehicle intended to orbit and explore Jupiter’s moon Europa; it is expected to reach the moon in 2030 after a 1.8 million-mile journey. Because the moon contains a large ocean almost entirely covered in ice and has a thin, oxygen-rich atmosphere, scientists believe Europa may be able to support life. [9][36][45]
So, should humans colonize space? Explore the debate below.
Pros and Cons at a Glance
| PROS | CONS |
|---|---|
| Pro 1: Humans have a moral duty to save our species from suffering and extinction, and colonizing space is one method of doing so. Read More. | Con 1: Humans living in space is pure science fiction. Read More. |
| Pro 2: Space colonization is the next logical step in space exploration and human growth. Read More. | Con 2: We should clean up our mess on Earth first before potentially destroying a moon or another planet. Read More. |
| Pro 3: Technological advancement into space can exist alongside conservation efforts on Earth. Read More. | Con 3: Space is inhospitable to humans, and life in space, even if possible, would be miserable. Read More. |
Pro Arguments
(Go to Con Arguments)Pro 1: Humans have a moral duty to save our species from suffering and extinction, and colonizing space is one method of doing so.
Elon Musk, founder and CEO of SpaceX, believes “there is a strong humanitarian argument for making life multi-planetary, in order to safeguard the existence of humanity in the event that something catastrophic were to happen, in which case being poor or having a disease would be irrelevant, because humanity would be extinct. It would be like, ‘Good news, the problems of poverty and disease have been solved, but the bad news is there aren’t any humans left.’… I think we have a duty to maintain the light of consciousness, to make sure it continues into the future.” [1]
According to some philosophies, humans are the only beings capable of morality, and, therefore, preserving humanity is the highest moral imperative. Following from that premise, Brian Patrick Green, Director of Technology Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University, concludes, “Because space settlement gives humankind the opportunity to significantly raise the chances of survival for our species, it is therefore a moral imperative to settle space as quickly as possible.”[21]
Some theorists, including Gonzalo Munevar at Lawrence Technological University, believe colonizing space will increase clean energy on Earth, provide access to the solar system’s resources, and increase knowledge of space and Earth. The benefits to humanity created by the resources and knowledge “create a moral obligation to colonize space.”[22]
Adds Sheri Wells-Jensen, associate professor of English at Bowling Green State University, “We have a moral obligation to improve: that is, to colonize yes, but to do it better: to actively unthink systems of oppression that we know exist. To spread ourselves without thought or care would probably result in failure: more planets spiraling toward global warming or space settlements filled with social unrest.” [23]
Pro 2: Space colonization is the next logical step in space exploration and human growth.
Fred Kennedy, president of the space transportation company Momentus, a space transportation company, argues that a fundamental truth—repeatedly borne out by history—is that expanding, outwardly-focused civilizations are far less likely to turn on themselves, and far more likely to expend their fecundity on growing habitations, conducting important research and creating wealth for their citizens. A civilization that turns away from discovery and growth stagnates.” Kennedy points out that while humans still have problems to resolve on Earth, “Forgoing opportunities to expand our presence into the cosmos to achieve better outcomes here at home hasn’t eliminated these scourges.” We shouldn’t avoid exploring space based on the false dichotomy of fixing Earthly problems first. [24]
Humans are not a species of stagnation. “The solar system can easily support a trillion humans. And if we had a trillion humans, we would have a thousand Einsteins and a thousand Mozarts and unlimited, for all practical purposes, resources and solar power unlimited for all practical purposes,” says Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon.com who traveled to space in 2021, courtesy of his company, Blue Origin. [25]
Space, in particular, is connected to exploration and growth in the human imagination. In 2014 Elon Musk stated, “It’s obvious that space is deeply ingrained in the American psyche…. SpaceX is only 12 years old now. Between now and 2040, the company’s lifespan will have tripled. If we have linear improvement in technology, as opposed to logarithmic, then we should have a significant base on Mars, perhaps with thousands or tens of thousands of people.”[1]
Pro 3: Technological advancement into space can exist alongside conservation efforts on Earth.
While Earth is experiencing devastating climate change effects that should be addressed, Earth will be habitable for at least 150 million years, if not over a billion years, based on current predictive models. Humans have time to explore and colonize space at the same time as we mend the effects of climate change on Earth. [26]
“Furthermore, we have to realize that solving Earth’s environmental problems is extremely difficult and so will take a very long time. And we can do this while also pursuing colonization,” says Brian Patrick Green of Santa Clara University. [23]
Jeff Bezos suggested that we move all heavy industry off Earth and then zone Earth for residences and light industry only. Doing so could reverse some of the effects of climate change while colonizing space. [25]
Adds Gonzalo Munevar, interdisciplinary professor emeritus at Lawrence Technological University, “In the shorter term, a strong human presence throughout the solar system will be able to prevent catastrophes on Earth by, for example, deflecting asteroids on a collision course with us. This would also help preserve the rest of terrestrial life — presumably something the critics would approve of. But eventually, we should be able to construct space colonies… [structures in free space rather than on a planet or moon], which could house millions. These colonies would be positioned to construct massive solar power satellites to provide clean power to the Earth, as well as set up industries that on Earth create much environmental damage. Far from messing up environments that exist now, we would be creating them, with extraordinary attention to environmental sustainability.”[23]
As space ecologist Joe Mascaro argues, “To save the Earth, we have to go to Mars.” Mascaro says that expanding technology to go to Mars will help solve problems on Earth: “The challenge of colonising Mars shares remarkable DNA with the challenges we face here on Earth. Living on Mars will require mastery of recycling matter and water, producing food from barren and arid soil, generating carbon-free nuclear and solar energy, building advanced batteries and materials, and extracting and storing carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide—and doing it all at once. The dreamers, thinkers and explorers who decide to go to Mars will, by necessity, fuel unprecedented lateral innovations [that will help to solve problems on Earth].” [27]
Con Arguments
(Go to Pro Arguments)Con 1: Humans living in space is pure science fiction.
Briony Horgan, assistant professor of planetary science at Purdue University, explains that “terraforming” Mars is “way beyond any kind of technology we’re going to have any time soon.” [28]
In one widely promoted plan, Mars needs to first be warmed to closer to Earth’s average temperature—from roughly -76°F/60°C to 59 °F (15 °C), which will take approximately 100 years. Then the planet must be made to produce oxygen so humans and other mammals can breathe, which will take about 100,000 years or more. And those two steps can only be taken once Mars is thoroughly investigated for water, carbon dioxide (CO₂), and nitrates. [29]
A 2018 NASA study concluded that, based on the levels of CO₂ found on Mars, the above plan is not feasible. As explained by lead author Bruce Jakosky, professor of geological sciences at the University of Colorado at Boulder, “terraforming Mars is not possible using present-day technology.” [30]
If a workable solution were found and implemented, a project of that magnitude would cost billions, perhaps trillions, of dollars.
Elon Musk explains that the SpaceX Mars colonization project would need one million people to pay $200,000 each just to move to and colonize Mars, which doesn’t include the costs incurred before humans left Earth. Returning to the Moon would have cost an estimated $104 billion in 2005 (about $170 billion in 2025 dollars), or almost 7 times NASA’s entire 2019 budget. [31][32]
But, a person has yet to set foot on Mars, and no space station has been built on another planet or natural satellite. [32]
Further, as noted by Linda Billings, research professor at George Washington University, “all life on Earth evolved to live in Earth conditions.… If humans can’t figure out how to adapt to, or arrest, changing conditions on Earth—then I can’t see how humans could figure out how to adapt to a totally alien environment.” [23]
Con 2: We should clean up our mess on Earth first before potentially destroying a moon or another planet.
If humans have the technology, knowledge, and ability to transform an uninhabitable planet, moon, or other place in space into an appealing home for humans, then surely we have the technology, knowledge, and ability to fix the problems we’ve created on Earth. [33]
As Lori Marino, founder and executive director of the Kimmela Center for Animal Advocacy, argues “we are not capable of enacting a successful colonization of another planet. The fact that we have destroyed our home planet is prima facie evidence of this assertion. It is sheer hubris to even consider the question of whether we should ‘go or not go’ as if we are deciding which movie to see this weekend because we really are not in a position to make that choice…. What objective person would hire humanity to colonize a virgin planet, given its abysmal past performance in caring for the Earth’s ecosystem (overpopulation, climate change, mass extinctions)?” [23]
Some assert that leaving Earth in shambles proves we are not ready to colonize space in terms of cultural, social, or moral infrastructure, regardless of technological advancements. Even the ongoing space race leaves its trash on Earth. For example, a more than 1,100-pound glowing ring, eight feet in diameter, of metal space junk crashed into a remote Kenyan village according to a January 2, 2025, New York Times article. While that is an especially dramatic example, space junk falls from the sky regularly and causes damage. [44]
“Colonization has the odor of running away from the problems we’ve created here; if we do that, we will simply bring those problems with us. We need a major change in how we think about what it means to be human—we need to stop seeing our species as special and start seeing it as part of a collection of species,” argues John Traphagan, professor of religious studies at the University of Texas at Austin. “In my view, as long as we bring the … [idea] of human exceptionalism with us to other worlds, we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes we have made here.” [23]
Con 3: Space is inhospitable to humans, and life in space, even if possible, would be miserable.
As novelist Andy Weir explains, “The problem is that you still don’t want to send humans to the moon. You want to send robots. Humans are soft and squishy and they die. Robots are hard and nobody gets upset when they die.”[34]
Adds bioethicist George Dvorsky, “The Red Planet is a cold, dead place, with an atmosphere about 100 times thinner than Earth’s. The paltry amount of air that does exist on Mars is primarily composed of noxious carbon dioxide, which does little to protect the surface from the Sun’s harmful rays. Air pressure on Mars is very low; at 600 Pascals, it’s only about 0.6 percent that of Earth. You might as well be exposed to the vacuum of space, resulting in a severe form of the bends—including ruptured lungs, dangerously swollen skin and body tissue, and ultimately death. The thin atmosphere also means that heat cannot be retained at the surface. The average temperature on Mars is -81 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 degrees Celsius), with temperatures dropping as low as -195 degrees F (-126 degrees C).”[28]
Meanwhile, lunar dust is made of shards of silica and cuts like glass. The dust that clung to the space suits of Apollo astronauts, scratching their visors and getting in their eyes and throats, could easily result in bronchitis or cancer. And the radiation on the Moon is about 200 times higher than on Earth, in addition to other problems, such as isolation and loneliness, that colonizing the Moon would cause. [35]
Humans would have a host of illnesses to deal with due to climate differences on Mars or the Moon: cancer, radiation illnesses, reproductive problems (or sterility), muscle degeneration, bone loss, skin burns, cardiovascular disease, depression, boredom, an inability to concentrate, high blood pressure, immune disorders, metabolic disorders, visual disorders, balance and sensorimotor problems, structural changes in the brain, nausea, dizziness, weakness, cognitive decline, and altered gene function, among others. Astronauts who have spent just a year in space have demonstrated irreversible health problems. [28][29]
Humans haven’t even attempted to live in Antarctica or under Earth’s seas, which have many fewer challenges for human bodies, so why would humans want to live on a planet or on the Moon that’s likely to kill them fairly quickly? [28]
Timeline: Commercial Space Travel
This timeline is not meant to be exhaustive but to highlight major events in commercial spaceflight.
1998 - Eric C. Anderson Co-Founds Space Adventures
The Russian space program created medical and training guidelines for Space Adventures to follow in order to buy seats on Soyuz flights and send tourists to space. Between 2001 and 2011, the company would send eight people into space. The company has an advisory board of eight astronauts including Buzz Aldrin.[52][53]
1999 - Richard Branson Registers “Virgin Galactic” Name
Branson, the founder of Virgin Records, has participated in record-breaking adventures “including the fastest ever Atlantic Ocean crossing, a series of hot air balloon adventures and kitesurfing across the English Channel.” He also founded travel companies Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Virgin America, Virgin Holidays, Virgin Limited Edition, Virgin Trains, and Virgin Hotels. [57]
2000 - Spaceflight Company Blue Origin Founded
Founded by Amazon magnate Jeff Bezos, the company didn’t gain much public interest until Bezos bought land for Blue Origin in Texas in 2006. [56]
April 28, 2001 - Dennis Tito Becomes First Space Tourist
Via space tourism company Space Adventures, Dennis Tito, a then-60-year-old American billionaire and former NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) engineer, spent $20 million to travel to the ISS on a Russian Soyuz rocket. Looking back on the experience 20 years later, he told CNN: “I was euphoric. I mean, it was the greatest moment of my life, to achieve a life objective, and I knew then that nothing could ever beat this.” [50]
March 14, 2002 - SpaceX Founded
SpaceX, founded by Elon Musk, helped usher in the era of commercial spaceflight. According to the company, their goal is:
to expand access to outer space. Not just for government or traditional satellite operators, but for new participants around the globe. Today [September 10, 2024], we’re flying at an unprecedented pace as the world’s most active launch services provider. SpaceX is safely and reliably launching astronauts, satellites, and other payloads on missions benefiting life on Earth and preparing humanity for our ultimate goal: to explore other planets in our solar system and beyond. [55]
April 25, 2002 - Mark Shuttleworth Is First South African in Space
Mark Shuttleworth bought a seat on a Russian spacecraft for $20 million in 2001. He then trained in Star City, Russia, and in Kazakhstan for a mission aboard a Soyuz capsule to the International Space Station (ISS). On April 25, 2002, Shuttleworth lifted off on Soyuz TM-34 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. On the flight with him were two cosmonauts, commander Yury Gidzenko of Russia and flight engineer Roberto Vittori of Italy. They docked two days later at the ISS. Shuttleworth spent eight days aboard the space station, where he conducted scientific experiments for South Africa. He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TM-33 on May 5, 2002. [54]
2004-2005 - Virgin Galactic Founded and Begins Advertising Space Flights
Commercial flights with Virgin Galactic were priced at $200,000 per seat and up. The price climbed to $450,000 per seat and had a 700-person waiting list by May 2023. The company wouldn’t launch a commercial space flight until June 29, 2023. [58][59][60]
October 1, 2005 - Gregory Olsen Is the Third Space Tourist
American scientist and entrepreneur Gregory Olsen was the third space tourist to take advantage of Space Adventure’s partnership with the Russian space program. Reportedly paying $20 million for the opportunity, he trained for five months at the Yury Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. Alongside commander Valery Tokarev of Russia and flight engineer William McArthur of the United States, Olsen flew in Soyuz TMA-7 that launched on October 1, 2005.
The Soyuz docked with the International Space Station (ISS) on October 3, 2005, where
Olsen assisted the crew in conducting various life science experiments on the ISS, including an examination of the effect of microgravity on cell surfaces and intercellular interactions and an investigation of the effects of radiation exposure on human organs. Olsen also carried out several self-designed experiments in remote sensing and astronomy and tested equipment for his firm, Sensors Unlimited, while in space. He returned to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-6 on October 11. [61]
September 15, 2021 - First Orbital Mission With No Professional Astronauts Aboard
37-year-old tech entrepreneur and airplane pilot Jared Isaacman commanded the autonomous Inspiration4 mission, the first mission to orbit Earth with no professional astronauts. The Crew Dragon SpaceX spacecraft orbited Earth three times, during which time Isaacman placed the first known sports bets from space. He bet $4,000 that the New York Giants and the Washington Football Team would score at least 40.5 combined points during a game and another $4,000 on the Philadelphia Eagles to win the Super Bowl. The stunt resulted in $50,000 in donations to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
One seat was gifted to Hayley Arceneaux, a St. Jude’s physician’s assistant and cancer survivor. The second seat went to Chris Sembroski, whose friend won a raffle raising money for St. Jude’s. And the third seat went to Sian Proctor, who won a contest in which entrepreneurs raised money for St. Jude’s. The trip raised over $250 million for St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital from the raffle, contest, and other donations. [73][74][75][76]
September 18, 2006 - Anousheh Ansari Becomes the First Female Space Tourist, as well as the First Muslim Woman and First Person of Iranian Descent to Go to Space
American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari emigrated to the United States from Iran as a teenager. She reportedly paid Space Adventures $20 million to fly to space aboard a Russian Soyuz. Originally a backup for Enomoto Daisuke, a Japanese businessman, Ansari was able to fly when Enomoto was disqualified for medical reasons.
Flying with commander Mikhail Tyurin of Russia and flight engineer Michael Lopez-Alegria of the United States, the Soyuz TMA-9 launched on September 18, 2006. They docked at the ISS on September 20, 2006, where she spent eight days completing human physiology experiments for the European Space Agency, conducting interviews with Iranian national TV, and becoming the first person to blog from space. She returned to Earth on Soyuz TMA-8 on September 29, 2006. [62]
April 7, 2007 - Charles Simonyi Becomes Fifth Space Tourist
Charles Simonyi, a Hungarian-born American software executive, paid $20 million to Space Adventures to be the fifth space tourist. He trained for six months at the Yury Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, Russia. On April 7, 2007, along with Russian cosmonauts, Expedition 15 commander Fyodor Yurchikhin, and flight engineer Oleg Kotov, Simonyi was launched into space on Soyuz TMA-10 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After 11 days on the International Space Station where he performed scientific experiments and talked to high school students via amateur radio, he returned to Earth aboard the Soyuz TMA-9 on April 21, 2007. [63]
September 24, 2008 - Enomoto Daisuke Sues Space Adventures for Canceled Trip
Japanese businessman Enomoto Daisuke was scheduled to join the September 18, 2006, Space Adventures flight to the ISS and was supposed to be the first space tourist to complete a space walk. Enomoto alleges that Space Adventures took his payment for the flight and walk without having permission from the Russians or the ISS for the walk and then grounded him without cause. According to Space Adventures, Enomoto was grounded for a chronic kidney stone condition and was not entitled to a refund of his $21 million. Enomoto said he has never seen the medical documentation.
October 12, 2008 - Richard Garriott, Son of NASA Astronaut, Becomes Space Tourist
Richard Garriott, a British-born American computer-game developer, is the son of NASA astronaut Owen Garriott, who first flew into space with the Skylab 3 mission on July 28, 1973. The younger Garriott, an investor in Space Adventures who reportedly paid $35 million for the trip.
He trained at the Yury Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Centre in Star City, Russia, after which he went to space aboard Soyuz TMA-13 on October 12, 2008, with commander Yury Lonchakov of Russia and flight engineer Edward Fincke of the United States. He completed work on the ISS and spoke with students from space, took photos for the Nature Conservancy, and conducted scientific experiments. He returned to Earth via Soyuz TM-12 on October 23, 2008. [64][71]
March 26, 2009 - Charles Simonyi Becomes First Repeat Space Tourist
After his April 2007 spaceflight, Simonyi returned to space via the Soyuz TMA-14 with Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka and U.S. astronaut Michael Barratt on March 26, 2009. After time on the International Space Station, he returned to Earth on the Soyuz TMA-13 on April 8, 2009. [63]
September 30, 2009 - Cirque du Soleil Co-Founder Guy Laliberté Becomes First Canadian Space Tourist
Laliberté, a French Canadian performer and entrepreneur, traveled to the ISS via the Russian Soyuz TMA-16. Of the launch, he wrote
The launch is spectacular to look at; it’s very noisy, very powerful. But inside it’s not as noisy; you’re in your little seat tied in, and it only takes eight and a half minutes to go from Earth to space. When you hit space it’s an amazing, joyful moment. You see Earth like you’ve never seen it in your life. [65][68]
2009-2020 - Russia Halts Space Tourism
The Russian Space Agency, Roscosmos, announced in January 2009 that it would no longer take commercial clients into space. The International Space Station crew was scheduled to increase to six astronauts so that Canadian, European, and Japanese astronauts could live aboard the station.
Plus, NASA stopped its space shuttle program in 2011 due to cost (one flight cost an average of $450 million), long turnaround times for shuttles to return to Earth, and safety issues. Because NASA was no longer launching shuttles, American astronauts turned to the Russian space program to ride along in the Soyuz rockets. With Canadians, Europeans, Japanese, and Americans now relying on Russian shuttle flights, there were no seats available for commercial clients. [69][70][71]
May 25, 2012 - SpaceX Dragon Capsule First Commercial Spacecraft to Dock at International Space Station
When NASA astronaut Donald R. Pettit successfully secured the capsule, he said: “It looks like we’ve got us a Dragon by the tail.” [81]
May 2020 - SpaceX Becomes First Commercial Spaceship to Take NASA Astronauts to Space
The United States last launched American astronauts into space in 2011 when the Space Shuttle program ended. NASA’s astronauts then traveled to space on Russian Soyuz flights, which cost NASA as much as $86 million per seat over the years. This changed in 2020, when SpaceX took NASA astronauts Robert Behnken and Douglas Hurley to the ISS, marking the first time a commercial aerospace company had taken humans into orbit. (Space Adventures has facilitated space travel for private, paying citizens by matching them with Russian space missions, whereas SpaceX is an aeronautics company launching astronauts into space.) [51]
January 28, 2021 - Russian Glavkosmos Sells Commercial Seats on Soyuz Flights
Glavkosmos is the commercial arm of the Russian space agency Roscosmos. “We assume that each crewed Soyuz MS spacecraft intended solely for commercial spaceflight will have two seats for space tourists,” with a professional astronaut occupying the third seat, said Glavkosmos spokesman Evgenii Kolomeets. [49]
July 11, 2021 - First Virgin Galactic Flight Launches
Richard Branson launched himself, two pilots, and three mission specialists into space from New Mexico for a 90-minute sub-orbital flight on the Virgin Galactic Unity 22 mission. [14][15]
July 20, 2021 - First Blue Origin Sub-Orbital Space Flight
Jeff Bezos followed on July 20, 2021, accompanied by his brother, Mark, and both the oldest and youngest people to go to space: 82-year-old Wally Funk, a female pilot who tested with NASA in the 1960s but never flew, and Oliver Daemen, an 18-year-old student from the Netherlands. The fully automated, unpiloted Blue Origin New Shepard rocket launched on the 52nd anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing and was named after Alan Shepard, who was the first American to travel into space on May 5, 1961. [16][17]
October 5, 2021 - Actress Yulia Peresild and Director Klim Shipenko Film Movie Aboard ISS
The Russian pair filmed The Challenge about a surgeon (played by Peresild) who has to make an emergency “house call” to the space station. Returning cosmonaut Oleg Novitskiy played the patient, filming additional scenes upon their return to Earth on October 17. [82]
December 8, 2021 - Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano Become First Japanese Space Tourists
The pair flew aboard a Russian Soyuz MS-20 to the International Space Station, spending a total of 12 days on the trip. [79]
April 8, 2022 - First SpaceX Flight with Paying Customers
On April 8, 2022, Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1) crew and the SpaceX Dragon spacecraft launched, carrying three paying customers and a former NASA astronaut on a round trip to the International Space Station (ISS). Mission AX-1 docked at the ISS on April 9 with former NASA astronaut, then-Axiom Space employee, and mission commander, Michael Lopez-Alegría, Israeli businessman Eytan Stibbe, Canadian investor Mark Pathy, and American real estate magnate Larry Connor. The group returned to Earth on April 25, 2022, after spending 15 days at the ISS. While this was not the first time paying customers or non-astronauts had traveled to the ISS (Russia had sold seats on their missions), this was the first American mission and the first with no active-duty government astronaut corps members. [38][39]
April 25, 2022 - Larry Connor First to Go to Space and the Depths of the Ocean in a Year
Connor, a real estate magnate, returned to Earth on April 25, 2022. In April 2021, he dove to the deepest ocean depths of the Mariana Trench: the Challenger Deep, Sirena Deep and a seamount in the Mariana Trench. [77]
January 2022 - ISS Film Production Studio and Sports Arena Announced
Space Entertainment Enterprise (SEE) announced plans for a film production studio and a sports arena in space. The module, named SEE-1, docked on Axiom Station, which is the commercial wing of the International Space Station. SEE planned to host film and sports events, as well as content creation. [37]
June 29, 2023 - Virgin Galactic Launches First Commercial Flight Fully into Space
Galactic 01 (formerly VSS Unity) launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico with two pilots, a Virgin Galactic trainer, and three paying passengers who are members of the Italian Air Force (Col. Walter Villadei and Lt. Col. Angelo Landolfi) and the National Research Council of Italy (Pantaleone Carlucci). Also on board were 13 scientific research payloads flown on behalf of the Italian Air Force, Italy’s National Research Council, the University of Padova, and the University of Rome Tor Vergata. As of this flight, Virgin Galactic had a backlog of 800 paid passengers. The flight is the first time a private, commercial company launched a space flight that traveled into space (rather than a sub-orbital flight). [59][60]
September 12, 2024 - Jared Isaacman Takes First Commerical Spacewalk
Jared Isaacman, a tech entrepreneur, was the first commercial passenger to take a spacewalk. Isaacman, who was testing a new spacewalking suit, kept a hand or foot attached to the SpaceX capsule at all times and was outside of the capsule for about 10 minutes. Two other crew members, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon, stayed strapped into their seats the entire time. [72]
September 12, 2024 - Sarah Gillis Takes Second Commercial Spacewalk
SpaceX engineer Sarah Gillis followed Jared Isaacman as the second person to take a commercial spacewalk. She performed some stretches to test a new spacesuit and was quickly back inside the SpaceX capsule. Two other crew members, Scott “Kidd” Poteet, a former Air Force Thunderbird pilot, and SpaceX engineer Anna Menon, stayed strapped into their seats the entire time. [72]
January 18, 2024 - First All-European Commercial Flight to ISS
All four astronauts aboard Axiom Mission 3—Michael López-Alegría (Spain), Walter Villadei (Italy), Alper Gezeravcı (Turkey), and Marcus Wandt (Sweden)—were born in Europe. The crew spent 18 days in space, mostly at the International Space Station, returning on February 9. [78]
April 14, 2025 - All-Female Blue Origin Flight
The all-female space flight on Bezos’ Blue Origin flew just above the Kármán line, the boundary separating Earth’s atmosphere and outer space. The flight included aerospace engineer Aisha Bowe, civil rights activist Amanda Nguyen, TV personality Gayle King, singer Katy Perry, film producer Kerianne Flynn, and media personality and pilot Lauren Sánchez, whose fiance, Jeff Bezos, organized the flight. The flight lasted about 10 minutes and was the first all-female space flight since 1963 when Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova embarked on a solo flight. [46][47][48]