{"id":18475,"date":"2018-06-14T00:30:23","date_gmt":"2018-06-13T16:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/axiom-space-offers-space-station-vacations-starting-in-2020-for-55-million\/"},"modified":"2018-06-14T00:30:23","modified_gmt":"2018-06-13T16:30:23","slug":"axiom-space-offers-space-station-vacations-starting-in-2020-for-55-million","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/axiom-space-offers-space-station-vacations-starting-in-2020-for-55-million\/","title":{"rendered":"Axiom Space offers space station vacations starting in 2020, for $55 million"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_426882\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-426882\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-426882\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Cupola-View-630x354.jpg\" alt=\"Zero gravity tourism\" width=\"630\" height=\"354\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Cupola-View-630x354.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Cupola-View-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Cupola-View-1260x709.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-426882\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows a space traveler floating in zero gravity. (Axiom Space Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>How much would you pay for a 10-day stay in low Earth orbit? Houston-based Axiom Space has set a $55 million price point for trips that it says could begin as early as 2020.<\/p>\n<p>If you want to fly that soon, Axiom Space is offering accommodations on the International Space Station. But the company, headed by a former NASA space station program manager, says it\u2019ll eventually have its own place in space.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is an honor to continue the work that NASA and its partners have begun, to bring awareness to the profound benefits of human space exploration and to involve more countries and private citizens in these endeavors,\u201d Axiom Space CEO and President Michael Suffredini said today in a news release.<\/p>\n<p>The plan calls for Axiom Space\u2019s orbital complex to be assembled while connected to the International Space Station, and to separate when the international station is retired.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"Axiom Space's vision and services\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Wp_ntD7oP6Y?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Axiom\u2019s timeline has some flex, because it\u2019s not yet clear how long the larger station will keep going, or what the assembly schedule will be for the company\u2019s custom-built habitation module. But a weekend feature about the project in The New York Times cited 2022 as the supposed opening date.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to the 10-day orbital stay, the $55 million would cover a 15-week training experience on Earth. Axiom is targeting space tourists as well as researchers and entrepreneurs who want to develop in-space manufacturing facilities.<\/p>\n<p>Is this doable? Axiom isn\u2019t yet laying out the complete logistical details, but the company will almost certainly rely on the likes of SpaceX and Boeing, which are developing space taxis for NASA\u2019s use. Once those spaceships go into operation, sometime in the 2018-2019 period, there\u2019s likely to be excess transportation capacity that Axiom could buy into.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019ll take millions of dollars more to build Axiom\u2019s orbital facility, which would include crew quarters, a dining area and a galley. Famed French designer Philippe Starck has already come up with the floor plan.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_426884\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-426884\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-426884\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Forward-View-630x448.jpg\" alt=\"Axiom Station\" width=\"630\" height=\"448\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Forward-View-630x448.jpg 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Forward-View-768x546.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/06\/Image-Axiom-Station-Forward-View-1260x896.jpg 1260w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-426884\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An artist\u2019s conception shows Axiom Space\u2019s design for a standalone space station. (Axiom Space Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cThis is a dream project for a creator like me with a genuine fascination for aviation and space exploration,\u201d Starck said in a statement. \u201cThe greatest human intelligence in the world focuses on space research. My vision for the Habitation Module on Axiom Station is to create a comfortable egg that is inviting with soft walls and a design perfectly in harmony with the values and movements of the human body in zero gravity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Suffredini, who served as NASA\u2019s space program manager from 2005 to 2015, Axiom\u2019s executive ranks include several NASA veterans, including former astronauts Brent Jett and Michael Lopez-Alegria.<\/p>\n<p>There could be competition for orbital travelers from other private ventures: NanoRacks has laid out a roadmap for creating orbital outposts from recycled rocket upper stages. Orion Span has its own plan to send a hotel habitat into orbit by as early as 2022. And Bigelow Aerospace, which already has two uncrewed modules in orbit, has created a separate company to operate expandable space stations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An artist\u2019s conception shows a space traveler floating in zero gravity. (Axiom Space Illustration) How much would you pay for a 10-day stay in low Earth orbit? Houston-based Axiom Space has set a $55 million price point for trips that it says could begin as early as 2020. If you want to fly that soon, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4384,291,717,493],"class_list":["post-18475","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-axiom","tag-commercial-space","tag-international-space-station","tag-space-tourism"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18475"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18475"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18475\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18475"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18475"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18475"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}