It's no longer science fiction, it will soon be possible to organize space holidays. And Italy too is ready to enter the business thanks to the collaboration between theItalian Space Agency , Virgin Galactic by Richard Branson, our country is preparing to organize tourist trips in orbit starting right from the Italian territory. The launch base, still under consolidation, will be located at Grottaglie, in Puglia.
With this agreement, ASI, through its subsidiary Altec (Aerospace Logistics Technology Engineering Company), is taking the first steps towards the first Made in Italy space tourist flight. But for reservations it is still too early, we must first fix the regulatory and bureaucratic part.
As emphasized by the CEO of Argotec,David Avino, to Adnkronos: "In Italy we have the entire supply chain to think of a 'space holiday': we have comfort systems, advanced space technologies, modules for staying in orbit" articulates David Avino. And the CEO of Argotec, born in 2008 in Turin and today a strong player in the Italian space. In fact, with his team, Avino also brought the first gourmet meals to the International Space Station, producing «space food – also suitable for weightlessness – with made in Italy recipes by chef Stefano Polato, head of the Turin laboratory».
But the race for commercial spaceflight began a long time ago, with the challenge raised by the nonprofit organization X Prize in 1996. The prize was $10 million for anyone who could build a spacecraft capable of carrying one or more passengers at an altitude of 100 km twice within two weeks. In the end, it was Burt Rutan with his rocket-powered plane who claimed the victory. And it was thanks to this competition that the American entrepreneur Richard Branson founded Virgin Galactic Airways three years later, wanting to inaugurate the first commercial flights in 2004.
Unfortunately, Richard Branson's project continued to have problems and delays for 17 years. Until last July the first flight was inaugurated with StarShipOne, a similar aircraft that starts attached to another aircraft and then, once dropped at high altitude, starts the engines to reach a height of 80 km, passing the Karman line. On the other hand, even the owner of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, managed to fly into space with the New Shepard spacecraft, a space capsule that starts propelled by a rocket up to over 100 km in height. Nothing less Elon Musk which this autumn plans to send one of its “Crew Dragon” capsules into orbit, with four passengers.
Therefore, the goal is not short suborbital space trips that last a few minutes, but real ones holidays for a few days. A more unique than rare opportunity for our country, which can also offer much more before and after the space trip. Definitely a trip for a few "paperoni" since the cost of the ticket will be around 250 thousand dollars.
