China to start Space Tourism by 2025

As per recent announcement by China National Space Administration (CNSA), China is prepared to start space tourism flights by 2025 through suborbital rides designed to take passengers on a ride to space, and then back to the Earth.

The first kind of flights will take their stop at the Chinese Space Station, which is presently under construction. The passengers will have to pass the physical and psychological prerequisites set up by the space station. The second one, a cargo aircraft will take the passengers into space by lifting another spacecraft up to the release altitude. The third flight will be a sub-orbital tour costing 2 – 3 million yuan per seat.

These flights are much like those offered by Blue Origin, the American sub-orbital flight services company owned by Jeff Bezos. Blue Origin is currently leading the space tourism industry by offering 10-minute trips up to the starting point of space, the Karman Line.

According to Yang Yiqiang, senior rocket scientist and founder of CAS Space, commercial space travel will reach its “full flower” by 2027. He also suggests that sub-orbital flights would be the most suitable space travel option for majority of passengers.