Since private companies such as Spacex, Blue Origin or Virgin Galactic They democratized – at least in theory – access to space, space tourism has become a new status symbol. That a figure like Katy Perry has crossed the line of Kárman not only generates media impact, but also question the global tourism industry about its future and its responsibility.
“It is a historical milestone and a privilege,” said the artist before taking off, but Is it also an ethically questionable privilege?
Tourism and inequality: What image do we project?
While the world faces challenges of access to basic services, limited global mobility and a tourism industry in postpandemic recovery, Space tourism appears as an extreme luxury to which only an elite access. According to estimates, A trip like Katy Perry can cost between US $ 200,000 and US $ 450,000.
This distance, literal and symbolic, could harm the public perception of tourism as a shared right or experience, transforming it into a symbol of ostentation and disconnection with social and environmental problems.
The environmental impact that is not seen from space
Each takeoff releases tons of carbon dioxide and other contaminants in high layers of the atmosphere, even altering the natural processes of ozone regeneration. Although companies try to justify it with innovation or science arguments, tourist flights do not fulfill a direct scientific function. It is entertainment with environmental footprint.
According to Nature Communications data, a single suborbital launch can generate up to 100 times more per capita emissions than a commercial transatlantic flight.
And common travelers? Fascination for space tourism can generate new expectations among travelers, But also a growing frustration as it is an unattainable experience. While some traditional operators try to position themselves with “astronomical” experiences that include observatories, simulators or immersive capsules, the gap between the aspiring tourist and the spatial celebrity widens.
For many sustainable destinations, this type of ultralight tourism can represent a challenge in image terms: how to continue promoting responsible and community tourism in a context where stars literally travel outside the planet?
A future in dispute
Katy Perry’s trip to space is part of an exclusivity and technological avant -garde narrative, but also reopens a necessary debate about the values that tourism promotes. Is tourism a bridge between cultures or a competence of purchasing power?
At a time where sustainable, inclusive and regenerative tourism gains ground on the global agenda, Experiences like this could weaken collective discourse if they are not contextualized or balanced with social responsibility actions by those who star them.
Virgin Galactic 1.jpg
Virgin Galactic
What is space tourism?
Next, the news of space tourism in numbers:
Torbital space ticket cost
- Between US $ 200,000 and US $ 450,000 per person (Virgin Galactic / Blue Origin)
Suborbital flight emissions
- Up to 100 times more COPITA than a commercial transatlantic flight (Nature Communications)
Percentage of global tourism representing space cruises
- Just 2% of the world tourism industry, but with exponential growth
Average time of a tourist space trip
- 11 minutes (blue origin)
- 90 minutes (Virgin Galactic)
Leading space tourism companies
- Blue Origin
- Virgin Galactic
- Spacex
Current sustainability measures
- Currently without international environmental regulation for tourist suborbital flights
