You Can Soon Vacation in Space for $35,000 Per Night

Antarctica used to be one of the most remote destinations on travelers’ bucket lists, but there will soon be an even more exclusive club to join. On June 7, NASA announced its intention to open up the International Space Station to tourists. For the last two decades, astronauts from 18 countries have lived aboard the research facility, which orbits the earth at an altitude of about 250 miles. As early as 2020, private companies will be able to send private astronauts—or space tourists—on a vacation of a lifetime as part of an initiative to have “U.S. industry innovation and ingenuity … accelerate a thriving commercial economy in low-Earth orbit,” according to a NASA press release.

For scientists, this commercialization means that they’ll soon be able to perform their own experiments and conduct their own research aboard the ISS without having to participate in specific NASA programs. But the opportunity is also available to travelers with deep pockets who are itching for a new experience. Unlike most scientists, who will only send up research equipment given the exorbitant cost of a private astronaut mission, the ultra-wealthy will be able to visit the ISS themselves.

The precise logistics of sending up private astronauts is still to be determined, but NASA does know that it won’t be selling space vacations itself—instead, it’ll rely on private companies to create the specific programming, almost as if they were tour operators. “This is the beginning of the process, so NASA is soliciting input [from private companies],” says NASA public affairs officer Stephanie Schierholz. “We did conduct 12 commercial studies that say there is interest in private astronaut missions.”

That demand is pretty clear, given the push by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin and Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic to develop their own spacecraft for tourists. But those trips to space will be more like a roller coaster ride, simply launching passengers across the boundary between the lower atmosphere and space, where they will hover in zero-gravity for a few minutes before they head back to earth. A trip to the ISS, however, could last up to 30 days.