XCOR will offer suborbital flights that will reach the edge of space, about 100km above the ground.

There are a number of misconceptions about space tourism, the most significant being that it doesn't exist yet.

In fact, it's been around since 2001, when Dennis Tito reportedly stumped up $US20 million ($25.6 million) to tag along on the Russian Federal Space Agency's ISS EP-1 mission. The NASA rocket scientist-turned-entrepreneur spent almost eight days orbiting the earth.

It won't be long until people are saying 'travelling into space is so last year'.

Another widespread misapprehension is that Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is the only company offering extra-terrestrial travel. As we'll get to shortly, there is actually a healthy field of commercial space travel companies developing a diverse range of trips.

An artists' impression of the World View capsule suspended from a balloon at the edge of space. Photo: World View

The good news for aspiring astronauts is that it should soon be possible to travel into space for as little as $75,000. The bad news is the fare will still translate to a minimum of $250 for every minute spent aloft - and that's without even considering the inescapable dangers involved.

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Commercial space travel can be divided into three categories: orbital, suborbital and what might be labelled sub-suborbital.

Space tourist Dennis Tito (left) on the Russian Federal Space Agency's ISS EP-1 mission in 2001. Photo: AP

Original post:

Space travel still big business, despite Virgin mishap