Space Tourism: Progress, Obstacles and Growth Prospects Bearing in Mind Public and Private Projects

Abstract

The concept of space tourism has been discussed since the early 2000s, but it is since 2015 that this typology has gained greater momentum, leading companies like Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin to conduct their first spaceflights with tourists, and soon different companies worldwide will do so at a lower cost. As an industry in full development and growth, it is necessary to identify the challenges and obstacles it may face to continue and generate a strong typology of tourism with constant demand. For this reason, interviews were conducted with different experts in space tourism, where, through the Atlas-ti tool, the four main challenges that the typology must face in the short term were identified. Keeping these challenges in mind, companies in the sector will have to confront them in the best possible way to generate a successful and continuous growth perspective. The identified challenges are as follows: Regulation of space tourism is non-existent; promotion and marketing of space travel in contrast to a world with needs; stagnation in development due to possible accidents and setbacks in the generation of experiences; the difficulty in generating cheaper prices, and increasing demand.