The first flight was that of Virgin Galactic, a project led by the well-known self-publicist Richard Branson on 11 July taking up a few of his friends for the ride. 9 days later it was the turn Blue Origin, funded by Jeff Bezos, who took along various members of his family. The flight also included Wally Funk, an ex-NASA astronaut who hadn’t been allowed to go up on the Apollo Missions because she was being female,
Only a few weeks later Blue Origin returned to space, flying up another well know figure, Captain Kirk, who boldly went where…….. well, a few people had gone before.
So, where does Blue Origin get all its money from? As I am sure you know, Jeff Bezos owns another company called Amazon and they make quite a lot of money. Well, as it is obviously making more and more money every year, it is obviously going to pay a lot of tax…but, oh, wait…. Amazon is also well known for how little tax it pays. Over the years even when their profits have sky rocketed, they tax paid actually decreased using various loopholes. As Jeff Bezos is founder of both of these companies, it is quite easy for him to fund his pet space project from the tax saved at the world’s largest company.
The first seat on the Blue Origin vehicle was sold for $29 million at auction - for an 11 minute flight, with a whole 4 minutes of weightlessness! That outrageous sum could have funded school meals for a day for 30 million children OR pay for ½ million school children to go to school in some of the poorest areas of the world for a year, OR train nearly 1 million farmers to become more self-sufficient. I think I know which is a better use of money
Surely there must be some benefits from this exciting new space travel?
Obviously when it is just Richard Branson popping up for a quick hour for his own enjoyment it is hard to argue that there are. However, not all space billionaires are created equal! Some companies set out to do good alongside their desire for commercial profit.
Space X, run by another billionaire Elon Musk, can use its missions as a force for good. For instance, their Inspiration 4 mission raised $222 million for St Jude’s Hospital, an American equivalent of Great Ormond Street Hospital. Also, when school children see these big high-profile missions taking off, surely they must be inspired by them, which helps them get excited about STEM subjects and careers.
SO, in conclusion, is Space Tourism just billionaires wasting money?
Well, it is difficult to say because not all spacefaring billionaires are the same.
If it is a Virgin Galactic joyride for its owner or buying yourself an 11-minute ride on Blue Origin, I don’t think that is right as you are just spending money, and a lot of it, for a very quick experience which isn’t going to benefit anyone else. But when we look at space expeditions that are also raising money for charities and inspiring other people, then I think that might be all right.
