You’ve travelled everywhere and seen it all. What’s next, you might ask? Well, have you ever been to space?
Nasa announced on June 7 that private astronauts will be allowed to travel to the International Space Station from 2020 onwards, but the visits won’t come cheap—stays will be priced at US$35,000 per night.
It’s a step up from what businessman Dennis Tito paid to become the first tourist to visit space in 2001, though. He paid US$20 million for a round trip to visit the ISS for eight days.
The nightly US$35,000 price tag doesn’t include transportation costs, though, so you’ll have to figure out your own way to the ISS. Elon Musk’s SpaceX, for example, charges around US$60 million per flight. And you thought your taxi fares were bad.
Alternatively, there’s also Sir Richard Branson’s upcoming Virgin Galactic service that’s in the works, if you’d like to price-match the two. But there’s no word on when exactly they’ll go commercial.
The ISS won’t be the only property in space to open its doors to tourists. Aurora Station, which bills itself as the world’s first luxury space hotel, recently unveiled its first interior renderings ahead of its planned 2022 launch. Stays reportedly cost around $9.5 million for a two-week trip.
Still, the hefty price tag might be worth the trip after all: You definitely won’t be getting a stray tourist or pigeon in any of your holiday shots.