Boeing: Entering space tourist biz

The CST-100 spacecraft: Imaginery, but nice pictures...(click for video)

Working with space hotel company, Bigelow Aerospace, the experienced aeronautics and space company Boeing is planning a commercial venture. It will operate a vehicle that can carry tourists into orbit—and presumably to a space hotel owned and operated by Bigelow.

The craft, with the boring designation CST-100, is supported in part by an $18 million grant from NASA to develop the vehicle. Bookings for commercial travelers would be handled by Space Adventures, the same company which has handled space tourists traveling on the Russian Soyuz vehicle.

With all we’re hearing about private spacecraft, the future is still uncertain. Who will succeed and who will fail? What happens after the first accident with a private spacecraft? How much funding will ultimately be available for commercial flight (Congress seems to want less, the Obama administration wants more)?

Right now, I see most of this as jockeying for more government money—if it becomes available. The commercial space tourists market is risky…and companies like Boeing need to maximize shareholder return, not take unnecessary risks.

The CST-100 barely exists even on paper. I look at these announcements of new commercial space ventures—with a skeptical eye. It’s still early, and we don’t yet know who the real players will be.

The claim is that this spacecraft will by carrying tourists into orbit by 2015. My prediction: no way will it happen that quickly with this craft—if ever.