China hopes to capture a significant portion of the space tourism market as it becomes the new norm. The China National Space Administration (CNSA) hopes to launch space tourism flights by 2025, with each seat costing between $287,200 and $430,800.
According to CGTN, the country is expected to focus on short sub-orbital flights that will take passengers into space for a brief moment of bliss before returning them home. According to Yang Yiqiang, senior rocket scientist and founder of Beijing-based rocket company CAS Space, three modes of space travel are being investigated.
Space tourism flights could be similar to those offered by Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin, which takes customers to 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface, crosses the Karmen Line, and returns. The Karman line, which is 100 kilometers above the Earth, is regarded as the beginning of space.
India has also made hints that it may launch paying customers into space in the near future, while China plans to start commercial flights. Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson launched the space tourism race by traveling into space on company-developed rockets.
Bezos’ Blue Origin has led the space tourism race with three successful flights in 2022, while Branson’s Virgin Galactic has yet to fly again since its initial mission. While Blue Origin launches tourists into space for ten minutes, Elon Musk’s SpaceX is not far behind, with Musk’s Dragon spacecraft carrying a crew of four tourists into space for more than three days. China and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have joined forces to launch the first moon landing mission. The two countries have signed an agreement to collaborate on the Moon mission.
The Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) and the China National Space Administration will collaborate on the Rashid-2 moon rover, which was developed by the UAE and sent to the Moon by China (CNSA). This is the first agreement of its kind between the two countries, following the successful completion of their respective missions to Mars. The Mars missions were developed and launched independently.
