Commercial Space Travel

Paper Summary:

The paper reviews the literature to determine what ongoing initiatives are taking place to help launch ordinary people into space today and in the future. The paper explores how these initiatives are being marketed according to the four 'Ps' of marketing; price, product, promotion and place. The paper concludes that the day when people of ordinary means will be able to afford a trip into space is not too far away. The paper also notes that although the price remains prohibitively high for most people, one can assume that like other technologies, the price will continue to drop as innovations are identified and competition increases.

Outline:
Review and Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"The first private astronaut, Dennis Tito, had to pay the Russians $20 million for his brief visit to their space station just a few years ago, but by his accounts, the hefty price tag was well worth it. Likewise, the first private spaceship has already traveled into the lower limits of outer space to international acclaim and enthusiasm from private citizens who are now wondering if they too may have a chance to travel into space. It is little wonder then that there has been an increased amount of attention paid to recreational space travel as a natural extension of the various governmental and military-related space programs in place around the world today."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Coren, M. (2004a, June 20). Commercial space travel next leap for mankind? CNN: Science and Space. Retrieved October 5, 2007 from http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/ 18/ssone.flight.history/index.html.
• ---. (2004b, July 14). Private craft soars into space, history. CNN: Science and Space. Retrieved October 5, 2007 from http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/space/06/21/ suborbital.test/index.html.
• Graham-Rowe, D. (2007, January 18). UK rocket man who's racing the billionaires into space. The Evening Standard (London, England), 14.
• Hudgins, E. L. (2002). Space: The free-market frontier. Washington, DC: Cato Institute.
• McQuillan, J. (2005, July 27). Branson and Rutan form 'The Spaceship Company' to jointly manufacture and market spaceships for the new sub-orbital personal spaceflight industry. Scaled Composites. Retrieved October 5, 2007 from http://www.scaled.com/news/2005- 07-27_branson_rutan_spaceship_company.htm.

More papers on Commercial Space Travel:

• Essay # 53575 : "Human Physiology in Space"
• Term Paper # 128459 : "The Cold War and the Conquest of Space"
• Analytical Essay # 128438 : "Boston's Big Dig Project"

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