Inside the Billionaire Space Tourist Boom: History, Players, Prices, and the Future of Commercial Spaceflight
Dennis Tito became the first space tourist in April 2001, paying about $20 million for a week on the ISS aboard a Russian Soyuz. The U.S. passed the Commercial Space Launch Amendments Act in 2004, setting FAA rules for private launches. By 2025, over 60 private individuals have flown to space as paying passengers or guests, with ticket prices for orbital missions reaching $55 million per seat.