The six tourists to make the 10 minute trip on Blue Origin this time were:

Mason Angel (Venture Capitalist), Sylvain Chiron (Founder of the French craft brewery Brasserie Mont-Blanc), Kenneth L. Hess (Software Engineer & Entrepreneur), Carol Schaller (Retired Accountant), Gopi Thotakura (Aviator), Ed Dwight (Retired US Air Force Captain) selected by President John F. Kennedy in 1961 to be the nation’s first Black astronaut candidate.

During their brief trip, the passengers experience a brief period of weightlessness and can view the Earth’s curvature from space before the capsule returns to Earth under parachutes.

We look at the history of tourist missions into space and the notable people, some parting with millions to make the extraordinary journey out of the earth’s atmosphere.

The era of space tourism began in April 2001 when American businessman Dennis Tito became the first space tourist. He travelled to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft, marking the start of privately funded spaceflights.

Over the next few years, six more individuals followed Tito, including South African entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth in 2002 and Iranian-American businesswoman Anousheh Ansari in 2006. These early tourists, facilitated by Space Adventures in collaboration with the Russian space agency, typically paid between $20 million and $25 million per trip.

Virgin Galactic’s first fully crewed spaceflight included founder Richard Branson. Accompanied by three other Virgin Galactic employees—chief astronaut instructor Beth Moses, lead operations engineer Colin Bennett, and government affairs VP Sirisha Bandla—the flight launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico.

The spacecraft reached an altitude of 53.5 miles, just above the boundary of space according to NASA’s definition. Bandla, an aerospace engineer, conducted an experiment during the flight, becoming the third woman of Indian origin to fly to space.

Blue Origin’s first human spaceflight, NS-16, launched from West Texas with Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark Bezos, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and 18-year-old Oliver Daemen, the youngest person to fly to space. The flight lasted about 11 minutes and reached an altitude of 66.5 miles, crossing the Kármán line and providing a few minutes of weightlessness.

Inspiration4 was the first all-civilian orbital mission launched by SpaceX on September 15, 2021. The mission, funded by billionaire Jared Isaacman, aimed to raise awareness and funds for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

The crew consisted of Jared Isaacman, Hayley Arceneaux, a physician assistant and cancer survivor, Dr. Sian Proctor, a geoscientist and analogue astronaut, and Chris Sembroski, an aerospace data engineer. The Crew Dragon spacecraft orbited Earth for three days at an altitude of 575 kilometres before safely splashing down in the Atlantic Ocean.

The NS-18 mission included actor William Shatner, best known for his role as Captain Kirk in “Star Trek,” who became the oldest person to fly to space at 90 years old. Other passengers included Audrey Powers, Blue Origin’s VP of Mission and Flight Operations, former NASA engineer Chris Boshuizen, and Glen de Vries, co-founder of Medidata Solutions. The flight, which launched from Launch Site One in West Texas, lasted around 11 minutes and reached suborbital space.

Soyuz MS-20 was a Russian spaceflight launched on December 8, 2021, carrying Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa, his production assistant Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin to the International Space Station (ISS).

Organized by Space Adventures, this mission marked the resumption of space tourism flights to the ISS after a decade-long hiatus. The crew spent 12 days aboard the ISS conducting scientific experiments and educational outreach activities before safely returning to Earth on December 20, 2021.

Blue Origin’s NS-19 mission carried six passengers, including Laura Shepard Churchley, daughter of astronaut Alan Shepard, and TV personality Michael Strahan. This mission marked Blue Origin’s first flight to fill all six seats of the New Shepard capsule.

Other passengers included Dylan Taylor, CEO of Voyager Space Holdings, and philanthropist Lane Bess and his son Cameron. The flight launched from West Texas and lasted about 11 minutes.

The NS-20 mission included five paying customers and one special guest. The passengers were Marty Allen, a former CEO; Sharon and Marc Hagle, a married couple known for their philanthropy; Jim Kitchen, an entrepreneur and university professor; and George Nield, a former associate administrator of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation.

The special guest was Gary Lai, Blue Origin’s chief architect. The flight launched from West Texas, reaching an altitude of 107 kilometres and lasted about 10 minutes.

Axiom Mission 1 (AX-1) was the first private crewed mission to the International Space Station (ISS), launched on April 8, 2022. Organized by Axiom Space, the mission utilized a SpaceX Crew Dragon spacecraft. The crew included Commander Michael López-Alegría, a former NASA astronaut, and three private astronauts: Larry Connor, Mark Pathy, and Eytan Stibbe.

They spent 10 days on the ISS, conducting scientific research and outreach activities.

The NS-22 mission included six passengers: Coby Cotton, co-founder of Dude Perfect; Mário Ferreira, an entrepreneur from Portugal; Vanessa O’Brien, an explorer who has summited Everest and visited the deepest point in the ocean; Clint Kelly III, a technology pioneer; Sara Sabry, an Egyptian engineer; and Steve Young, an executive from the telecommunications industry.

This flight launched from West Texas and lasted about 10 minutes, reaching an altitude of approximately 107 kilometres.

Axiom Mission 2 (AX-2), the second private mission organized by Axiom Space to the ISS, launched on May 21, 2023. The mission featured Commander Peggy Whitson, a former NASA astronaut, and pilot John Shoffner, a businessman and aviator. They were joined by two Saudi astronauts, Ali AlQarni and Rayyanah Barnawi, making Barnawi the first Saudi woman in space.

The crew conducted various scientific experiments and educational outreach during their 10-day stay on the ISS, continuing the trend of expanding private access to space and fostering international collaboration in space research.

This flight, carrying three members of the Italian Air Force, focused on conducting microgravity research. It launched from Spaceport America and was Virgin Galactic’s first commercial research mission. The crew included Colonel Walter Villadei, an Italian Air Force officer, who has a background in aerospace engineering and has previously trained for space missions with the European Space Agency.

Galactic 02 marked Virgin Galactic’s first flight with private paying customers. The flight launched from Spaceport America, carrying Keisha Schahaff and her daughter Anastatia Mayers from Antigua and Barbuda. Schahaff won her seat in a fundraising lottery for the NGO Space for Humanity. Mayers, a student at the University of Aberdeen, became one of the youngest people to fly to space at 18 years old.

The Galactic 03 flight continued the trend of carrying private passengers. This mission also launched from Spaceport America and provided a brief experience of weightlessness and views of Earth. Notable passengers included Jon Goodwin, a Paralympic athlete who competed in canoeing at the 1972 Summer Olympics. Goodwin has also climbed Mount Kilimanjaro and crossed the Atlantic Ocean.

Galactic 04 was another commercial spaceflight, with passengers enjoying the same suborbital flight experience. The flight included various private individuals and launched from Spaceport America. Among the passengers was Tim Nash, an environmentalist and author, who has been active in promoting sustainability and climate change awareness.

Galactic 05 continued Virgin Galactic’s series of commercial flights, carrying private paying customers on a suborbital trip. The launch also took place at Spaceport America, offering a similar experience of weightlessness and Earth views as previous flights.

Notable passengers included Raffaello D’Andrea, a robotics expert and co-founder of Kiva Systems, which was acquired by Amazon to develop its warehouse automation technology.

Virgin Galactic’s Galactic 06 mission was the first spaceflight of 2024 and the 11th overall for the company. The flight launched from Spaceport America in New Mexico and included four private astronauts: Lina Borozdina, the first Ukrainian woman to fly to space, residing in Nevada, USA; Robie Vaughn from Texas, USA; Franz Haider from Austria, the second Austrian to fly to space; and Neil Kornswiet from California, USA.

The flight was commanded by CJ Sturckow and piloted by Nicola Pecile on VSS Unity, with Michael Masucci and Dan Alix piloting the mothership VMS Eve.

The NS-25 mission carried six crew members: Mason Angel, Sylvain Chiron, Ed Dwight, Kenneth Hess, Carol Schaller, and Gopichand Thotakura. Ed Dwight, who was an early African-American astronaut candidate, flew at age 90, becoming the oldest man to reach space.

The flight launched from West Texas, reaching an altitude of 106 kilometres, and lasted approximately 10 minutes. The booster landed 7 minutes after launch, while the capsule touched down 10 minutes after lift off.