By akademiotoelektronik, 19/04/2022

Space tourism: what trip to offer you between 0 and 45 million euros?

Always closer to the stars. After Richard Branson, the founder of Virgin Galactic, on July 11, it's Jeff Bezos' turn to take to space this Tuesday, July 20. The founder of Amazon will take place aboard the New Shepard, the spaceship of his company Blue Origin, in order to experience a few minutes of weightlessness. Two trips a few days apart that mark a new step forward for space tourism. But a trip outside the Earth, whether it lasts a few minutes or a few days, will doubtless remain for a very long time a privilege reserved for the wealthiest. Fortunately, experiences approaching space travel are possible near home and without paying an astronomical sum.

Read alsoJeff Bezos sends Captain Kirk into space: everything you need to know about space tourism

0 €: observe the stars from Earth

Relive Thomas Pesquet's first space voyage, navigate throughout the known universe, scrutinize the celestial vault... So many experiences to enjoy from home with a simple Internet connection. Another way to navigate the cosmos: get away from cities and scan the sky from an area protected from light pollution or from an observatory. In France, several sites are ideal for stargazing all year round and particularly during Star Nights (from Friday August 6 to Sunday August 8, 2021). The "black triangle of Quercy" lends itself particularly well to astrotourism, since this area offers the darkest sky in France. Since last May, the Causses du Quercy Regional Natural Park has also been classified as a "Territory of starred towns and villages".

Read alsoNights of the stars: 7 exceptional sites to scan the sky in France

15 €: scan the sky in a planetarium

France has nearly 170 planetariums, these domes on which are projected the celestial vault and films (documentaries or fiction) on astronomy. Those of the Cité des Sciences in Paris and the Cité de l'Espace in Toulouse are among the largest and busiest in France. Plunged into darkness, the spectators attend a screening before exchanging with a scientific mediator. The opportunity to update your knowledge of astronomy. And a way to have your head in the stars for just a few euros.

Read alsoVisiting an exoplanet, taking yourself for Thomas Pesquet... five sites to explore space (without leaving Earth)

150 €: go on a mission to Mars with NASA

The Kennedy Space Center, on the coast of Florida, is not only NASA's rocket launch center. The complex also houses a vast visitor trail that will delight space conquest enthusiasts. The entry ticket usually includes access to the launch viewing platform at Cape Canaveral; the ideal is therefore to go there on a rocket launch day. Want to put yourself in the shoes of an astronaut on a mission? Take part in the Astronaut Training Experience. This training center allows you the time of a day to experience a Martian expedition. Walking on the red planet in virtual reality, piloting a rover, experiencing microgravity... It's almost like it!

Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex, Space Commerce Way, Merritt Island, FL 32953, USA. Such. : +1 855 433 4210. Prices: 57 dollars (48 €) admission from 12 years old, 47 dollars (40 €) up to 11 years old; 175 dollars (150 €) for the Astronaut Training Experience.

Read the fileUnited States: the Figaro travel guide

€400: for children, a one-week astronaut course

A theme park specializing in space, the Euro Space Center, located in the south of Belgium, is a place to take children who are passionate about astronomy. If the park can be visited with the family during the day, children can stay there for a week to follow a preparation course for a space mission in a summer camp atmosphere. Piloting a ship, building a rocket, experimenting with microgravity... In small groups, budding astronauts (from 9 to 18 years old) discover the main aspects of a space mission. Count between €279 in day school and €485 in boarding school for the Astronaut Camp (6 days/5 nights). Something to inspire vocations.

Euro Space Center, 1 rue in front of les Hêtres, B-6890 Transinne, Belgium. Such. : +32 61 65 64 65. Prices: €29 daily admission for an adult, free for children under 1.10 m; courses from €279 depending on age, duration and specialties.

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€6,000: a weightless flight over Bordeaux

The Novespace company based in Bordeaux offers parabolic flights aboard an Airbus A310 Zero G. The pilots perform a "parabolic maneuver" several times (an alternation of ascents and descents in stages) allowing passengers to be weightless by periods of about twenty seconds. A feeling similar to that experienced by astronauts who walked on the Moon. The two-hour discovery flights take place in the company of astronaut Jean-François Clervoy. If the flight does not require any particular physical aptitude, there are all the same contraindications. A medical examination is also necessary before the flight. Please note that all flights from Bordeaux are fully booked until August 26, 2022. Flights are also available from Zurich in Switzerland.

Novespace, 29 rue Marcel Issartier, 33700 Mérignac. Such. : 05 56 34 05 99.

Read alsoZero gravity flight: Jean-François Clervoy reveals the sensation of space

SEE ALSO - Space tourism: technological advance or whim of stars?

€100,000: a balloon flight into the stratosphere

It looks like a hot air balloon, except it's designed to soar into the stratosphere. Designed by the French company Zephalto, based in Hérault, the Céleste balloon will take passengers to an altitude of 25 km from 2024. At this altitude, still well below the limit with space, they will be able to observe the curvature of the Earth and enjoy the darkness of the sky from inside a pod. The first tourist flights are expected in 2024, will last between six hours and a few days and will be launched from France initially. Ticket price: €100,000 minimum.

Read alsoAboard a balloon for a space cruise

From €170,000 to €250,000: a suborbital flight with Virgin Galactic or Blue Origin

Richard Branson has just realized his dream. On July 11, the 70-year-old billionaire boarded a shuttle from his company Virgin Galactic and thus offered himself a few minutes of weightlessness at an altitude of 80 km. A first manned flight intended to reassure future candidates for a suborbital journey. This is provided by SpaceShipTwo, a reusable vessel that takes off like a conventional plane before descending in gliding flight. Virgin Galactic aims to provide up to 400 flights per year from the beginning of 2022. More than 600 tickets sold between 200,000 and 250,000 dollars (i.e. between 170,000 and 210,000 €) have already been sold. But the company has warned that future places on sale will be more expensive...

Competitor of Virgin Galactic, the company of Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, did not communicate on the prices which it will practice. The price could be between 200,000 and 300,000 dollars (i.e. between 170,000 and 250,000 €), slightly more expensive than with Virgin Galactic, for a flight which will slightly exceed an altitude of 100 km. A seat on Blue Origin's first commercial flight (scheduled for 2022) was bought at auction for 28 million euros for a starting price of $4.8 million.

Read alsoRichard Branson makes his first spaceflight with Virgin Galactic

45 million euros: ten days aboard a space hotel

It is certainly the most expensive hotel in the world, and it is located 400 km from the Earth. 55 million dollars (45 million euros) is the sum that will have to be paid to stay ten days aboard the space hotel imagined by the company Axiom Space, co-founded by Michel Suffredini, former director of programs of the ISS. The module created by Frenchman Philippe Starck will include both a laboratory and a hotel. The eight individual berths will be equipped with touch screens, hundreds of color-changing nano-LEDs and a porthole with a view of our planet. To reach their resort, tourists will board a capsule from SpaceX, the company of Elon Musk, partner of Axiom Space. The module should dock with the ISS by 2024. Enough to give us time to put money aside.