WHAT DID THE AGE OF EXPLORATION EVER DO FOR ANYBODY?

The promise of suborbital tourism is that it could expand space access to many, many more people. Whereas orbital flights required tens of millions of dollars and months of training, suborbital spaceflight costs a few hundred thousand dollars and needs only a few days of training.

Making good on this promise has been challenging. For much of the last decade, it seemed like spaceflights such as Branson's were only a year or two away. But there were always setbacks, more technical issues to solve, more safety concerns to address. Time slipped away, and it seemed like the day may never come.

Nonetheless, behind the scenes, a furious race between Virgin Galactic and Jeff Bezos' rocket company, Blue Origin, raged. Both were competing to build, test, and fly suborbital launch systems that would take paying customers to space. The race, of course, came down to the wire. After Jeff Bezos said he would fly into space on his New Shepard rocket on July 20, Branson moved up his flight, which had been planned for late summer. On Sunday, Branson won the first leg of this space tourism race by a mere nine days.

As Garriott sees it, we were all winners. "It's very exciting to see either of them go to space, much less both of them," Garriott said.

Coincidentally, it's not just suborbital space tourism now reaching maturity. In as little as two months, SpaceX will launch a Crew Dragon spacecraft carrying four private astronauts. This "Inspiration4" mission was purchased by entrepreneur Jared Isaacman, who is using the flight to promote children's cancer research.

NASA supported development of Crew Dragon to have a transportation system to the International Space Station. It did so through a public-private partnership, which required SpaceX to invest in Crew Dragon as well. In return, SpaceX got more freedom to design Crew Dragon to its specifications, and the company was encouraged by NASA to seek out private customers.

Now, that is happening. As part of the buildup to the Inspiration4 flight, SpaceX founder Elon Musk has said he expects to fly more private flights on Crew Dragon than NASA-sponsored missions to the International Space Station.

From this moment onward, therefore, it's likely that the majority, and very probably the vast majority, of future flights to suborbital and orbital space will be privately funded. Private human spaceflight is finally ready for takeoff.

"I absolutely believe this is that moment," Rachel Lyons, executive director of Space for Humanity, told Ars.

Businessman and space investor Dylan Taylor founded the philanthropic organization in 2017 to expand access to space. Space for Humanity plans to sponsor people from all over the world to go to space, experience the overview effect, and return to Earth to share it with their communities. "We're working to seed people around the world who have had this experience," Lyons said.

Space for Humanity first took applications for the program in 2019, intending to purchase seats on Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and other similar spaceflight opportunities should they come along. Back then, neither company flew. The technology wasn't ready. Space for Humanity soon closed its applications.

In 2021, the time has come. As of last week, Space for Humanity reopened its application process.

Yes, but...

For various, understandable reasons, a lot of people look at what Branson and Bezos have done with disdain. 

Tweet   @brothersjudd