Commercial space travel continued its uneven expansion in 2025, with passenger volume growth driven almost entirely by Blue Origin’s 10-minute suborbital excursions. Passenger volume for longer, more complicated, and more consequential orbital missions was flat, with SpaceX claiming the entirety of that segment.

The number of active operators narrowed from four companies in 2024 to two in 2025, as Boeing and Virgin Galactic sat out the year in a retooling phase for their fleets.

The contraction reflects the reality of the scale, cost, and complexity of space passenger travel, which may appear to be booming to some but will in reality require several more years for U.S. players to return and expand, alongside likely future participation from China.

The growth brakes will face additional pressure in 2026, with suborbital travel potentially dropping from a high of 42 passengers in 2025 to zero. That outcome follows Blue Origin’s announcement that it will pause New Shepard flights and redirect resources toward NASA’s lunar flight program. The only current prospect for suborbital space travel this year is Virgin Galactic inaugurating its Delta fleet in the second half of the year.

The Moon has re-emerged as a central priority for U.S. space passenger travel, requiring a unification of resources even as the private space marketplace experienced a brief period of differentiated competition.

Orbital vs Suborbital Missions 2025

Suborbital missions consist of brief, roughly 10-minute flights that cross the Kármán line before returning to Earth, offering passengers a short experience of weightlessness. Orbital missions place crews into sustained low-Earth orbit for days or transport to the ISS for extended stays, requiring significantly more complex vehicles, training, and capital.

Suborbital missions outnumbered orbital flights nearly two to one in 2025 and carried more than twice as many passengers. Yet orbital missions generated over 90 percent of total passenger revenue. The contrast illustrates the structural divide within the market: suborbital travel scales people, while orbital travel scales revenue.

Passenger Volume: 2025 vs 2024

Total commercial space passenger volume increased from 42 in 2024 to 58 in 2025, a 38 percent gain. Blue Origin accounted for the majority of the increase, more than doubling its passenger count year over year as it approached a near-monthly launch cadence.

SpaceX added modest incremental growth, reflecting steady orbital demand from NASA’s Commercial Crew Program transporting crews to and from the ISS, alongside additional demand from Axiom’s chartering relationship and one mission, Fram2, funded by ultra-wealthy patron Chun Wang.

The absence of passengers from Boeing and Virgin Galactic underscores how sensitive industry totals remain to individual operator activity. Passenger growth in 2025 did not reflect broad participation, but rather a contraction in the number of active players.

Total Missions: 2024 vs 2025

Commercial passenger missions increased slightly, from ten in 2024 to eleven in 2025. Blue Origin drove most of the change, expanding from three missions to seven as additional vehicles entered service. SpaceX held steady at four missions.

Passenger Revenue: 2024 vs 2025

Passenger-derived revenue rose across the sector, led overwhelmingly by SpaceX. Orbital revenue grew moderately on an already large base, reaching an estimated $1.144 billion in 2025. Blue Origin more than doubled suborbital revenue as passenger volume increased, while Boeing and Virgin Galactic dropped to zero following limited activity the prior year.

The revenue split reinforces a central reality of commercial space travel. Orbital missions generate scale and cash flow that suborbital flights cannot yet match, even as suborbital operators carry more passengers. This imbalance is likely a contributing factor to Blue Origin’s decision to shift focus toward orbital and lunar missions moving forward.

Passenger Gender and Age by Company 2025

Passenger demographics varied meaningfully by operator and mission profile. SpaceX maintained an even gender split, consistent across missions where it controls crew selection in collaboration with its patrons.

NASA Commercial Crew Program flights reflect steady long-term improvement from an era in which astronauts flying in the 1960s and 1970s were 100 percent male.

Suborbital male concentration reflects a marketplace in which those with the disposable income to purchase an estimated $1.9M seat, likely requiring $100M or greater net worth, are predominantly men, both U.S. and international.

The hands-off nature of suborbital flight is reflected in a higher average passenger age of 56, notably older than orbital counterparts, with the oldest passenger launching at age 85 this year. The gap underscores both the lower physical demands of suborbital travel and the level of wealth required.

Passenger Origin 2025

Geographic diversity expanded modestly in 2025 but remains uneven. North America accounted for 55 percent of all commercial space passengers, down from a midyear high of 69 percent, while maintaining a dominant position.

Europe and Asia were nearly equal in representation and together accounted for more than one third of travelers, with Oceania and Africa comprising a small share.

Commercial space travel remains early, concentrated, and highly sensitive to operational continuity. Growth in 2025 was real but narrowly sourced, driven by a small number of active vehicles and limited mission profiles, as passenger access expanded even while revenue concentrated further, reinforcing the divide between suborbital and orbital flight.

The patterns forming now, who flies, who pays, and which missions attract sustained investment, will shape the trajectory of space passenger travel. The metrics establish a consistent baseline as commercial activity increasingly yields to longer-horizon priorities beyond Earth orbit.

The focus on the Artemis lunar program and shuttles to an expanding private space station market is increasing pressure on near-term suborbital activity as attention shifts toward orbital missions.

In a time of fierce scrutiny, Jared Isaacman stands out as an unusually capable and committed leader. His selection as NASA Administrator may prove to be one of the most consequential federal appointments this century.

NASA at an Inflection Point

NASA is at a critical juncture. The agency’s risk aversion and execution drag were shaped by tragedy, from Challenger to later shuttle-era failures. When the shuttle program shut down, NASA was forced to rely on Russia for astronaut transportation to the ISS. That dependence lasted a decade, until SpaceX delivered a private-sector solution by breaking through legacy resistance

Observers of NASA, including astronauts such as Scott Kelly and Senator Mark Kelly, (who voted to confirm Isaacman with bipartisan support), have argued that the agency’s decision-making became overly cautious and slow, leaving it ill-positioned to keep pace with industry advances and intensifying geopolitical competition.

At the same time, a commercial space sector has emerged, accelerating launch, crew transport, and spacecraft development. NASA must harness that momentum to advance Artemis lunar efforts, enable post-ISS private stations, and respond to China’s increasingly ambitious programs.

The central challenge is no longer technical capability, but aligning government oversight, commercial execution, and geopolitical urgency fast enough to sustain leadership.

Who Is Jared Isaacman?

Jared Isaacman is an unconventional figure in space leadership, shaped by early venture building rather than institutional pathways. Born in 1983 and raised in Union, New Jersey, he grew up in a middle-class household and became financially independent at a young age through entrepreneurship.

At age 16, Isaacman left high school and started a payments-processing business from his parents’ basement. That company became Shift4 Payments, which he spent the next two decades building into a multibillion-dollar fintech firm. He later earned a GED but did not attend college, choosing instead to scale his business while pursuing private aviation training.

Parallel to his fintech career, Isaacman became an elite pilot and commercial astronaut. He logged thousands of flight hours, set a world record flying around the globe in a light jet, earned type ratings in aircraft including the L-39 and A-4 Skyhawk, and founded Draken International to provide adversary air training for the U.S. military.

Isaacman financed and commanded SpaceX’s Inspiration4, the first all-civilian orbital mission, which raised hundreds of millions of dollars for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. He later led Polaris Dawn, carrying out the first civilian spacewalk in an untested SpaceX spacesuit and traveling farther from Earth than any mission since Apollo.

A Nomination Derailed, Then Restored

Isaacman’s path to confirmation was far from straightforward. His initial nomination became entangled in a highly publicized dispute between President Trump and Elon Musk, culminating in the president withdrawing the nomination in May 2025, days before a scheduled Senate vote.

Afterward, Isaacman kept a low profile, avoiding public commentary and continuing to engage quietly with lawmakers across parties. Months later, as concerns over leadership, competition with China, and NASA’s challenges sharpened, the White House moved forward with a second nomination, which was approved by a 67–30 Senate vote on December 17, 2025.

Isaacman’s Commitment

Upon confirmation, Issacman shared a personal commitment statement via social media:

As I step into this role, I make these personal commitments:

• Mission: I will champion the bold objectives of human space exploration, scientific discovery, and a thriving space economy that ensures America’s leadership in space. We will never again give up our capabilities to reach for the stars, and we will never settle for second place.

• Integrity: I will serve responsibly, transparently, and without personal gain, covering every cost I am legally permitted to, and fully adhering to my ethics agreement. My loyalty is to my country, my President, and the space agency that has inspired me since I was a child.

• Urgency: I will intensely focus the agency on achieving the near-impossible, the very reason NASA was established in the first place. We will eliminate the bureaucracy that impedes progress and empower the best and brightest to take ownership, move quickly, accept smart risks, and act with a relentless focus on mission success.

• Inspiration: Every launch, every scientific breakthrough must inspire the next generation to dream bigger, to reach higher, and believe that anything is possible. In addition to my existing philanthropic efforts, I will donate my salary as Administrator to the U.S. Space & Rocket Center’s Space Camp to help prepare the pioneers of tomorrow.

I am humbled by this opportunity, proud to serve, and ready to work alongside the most talented minds in America as we continue the greatest adventure in human history.

Sincerely,

Jared Isaacman, NASA Administrator

The Test Ahead

Isaacman’s impact will hinge on his ability to adapt private-sector execution to public governance. NASA manages roughly $25 billion annually, employs about 18,000 civil servants, and relies on 40,000–60,000 contractors, all operating under congressional oversight and procurement law. That reality differs in scale and structure from Shift4 Payments, where Isaacman led a company of roughly 4,000 employees with more than $3 billion in annual revenue, benefiting from faster, market-driven decision cycles.

Leading NASA will require navigating, and in some cases transforming, political and bureaucratic constraints. If Isaacman can successfully apply his execution-focused approach, he could turn NASA’s formidable resources into a strategic advantage for the commercial space industry and national security.

Contest winners are the most charmed group of space travelers, representing a fraction of the small number of humans who have reached space. They entered fundraising sweepstakes, crypto contests, and promotional campaigns that offered space travel as the hook. None had credentials that would qualify them for agency missions, and none needed them. Most space travel contest prizes are for 10-30 minute suborbital excursions that require no specialized training.

Commercial spaceflight has shifted from the rare civilian paying for a seat on Roscosmos missions in the early 2000s to today’s near-monthly flights operated by commercial spacelines. There have been 213 commercial passengers who reached space either paying Roscosmos or, more commonly, buying a seat on the commercial flights operated by Virgin Galactic, Blue Origin, and SpaceX.

Contest winners have flown on all three spacelines. Current prices illustrate the value of these flights. Today, Virgin Galactic suborbital seats just below the Kármán line cost $600K, Blue Origin suborbital seats just beyond the Kármán line cost about $1.9M, and SpaceX multi-day, orbital mission seats are priced at $55M.

These luck-driven selections stand apart from the merit-based competitions covered in our previous article, which awarded seats for leadership, outreach, or scientific contribution. According to Spaceport Lounge data, five commercial passengers have flown on fully paid seats won through random draw or lottery-style selection.

St. Jude’s Digital Raffle

Christopher Sembroski became the luckiest space travel winner when he joined SpaceX’s Inspiration4 multi-day mission in 2021, on a seat valued at $50M. St. Jude’s fundraising campaign entered donors into a drawing. A friend of Sembroski originally won but could not go, so he offered his place to Sembroski. It is the only orbital travel seat ever won in a mass-entry donation raffle.

The St. Jude sweepstakes drew about 72,000 entries and raised roughly $13 million, contributing to a total of more than $240 million generated for the hospital. This figure included a $100 million donation from mission commander Jared Isaacman, who was subsequently nominated to lead NASA as the next administrator.

Brazilian Crypto Draw
In 2022, the Brazilian crypto community Crypto Space Agency offered a Blue Origin New Shepard seat opportunity to holders of its NFT (non-fungible token) collection. Civil engineer Victor Correa Hespanha won the draw and became only the second Brazilian to reach space. The contest occurred during the peak of crypto’s consumer push.

Roughly five thousand NFT holders were eligible to participate. The promotion produced a rise in NFT sales and social engagement, giving the project attention setting it apart from other crypto initiatives.

The Virgin Galactic Sweepstakes
Virgin Galactic’s sweepstakes awarded mother and daughter Keisha Schahaff and Anastatia Mayers of Antigua and Barbuda two seats. Schahaff entered the 2021 sweepstakes and chose her daughter, a physics student, to join her. They flew on Galactic 02 in 2023, becoming the first mother and daughter in space and the first astronauts from their home country.

The sweepstakes attracted over 160,000 entrants and provided broad visibility for both the nonprofit and Virgin Galactic. It raised $1.7M to support Space for Humanity’s citizen astronaut program, in which several of the merit-based winners have been selected.

Austin Litteral: The Whatnot Livestream Giveaway
Live-commerce platform Whatnot ran a 2024 promotional giveaway of a Blue Origin New Shepard seat for its community of buyers and sellers. Users earned entries by watching streams and following creators. The winner was Kentucky resident and former Army reservist Austin Litteral. His New Shepard mission became the most retail-focused contest to date, created to increase participation on a growing commerce platform.

The giveaway generated millions of engagement-based entries and delivered strong visibility for Whatnot across social channels and tech news.

Current and Future Space Travel Contests
Companies are likely to continue using space travel as a promotional and fundraising tool when the exposure return justifies the investment. This mirrors long-standing use of travel sweepstakes, where exotic prizes draw attention and participation. Spaceflight offers a stronger version of that.

At the moment no open contests can be found that offer a seat to space. We will update this section as new opportunities appear, so be sure to check back.

One related contest, Spark into Space, is currently open through December 11, 2025. It does not include a spaceflight prize but offers a package built around the Space Coast that includes a hotel stay, visits to the Kennedy Space Center, an Astronaut Training Experience session, a meeting with a NASA astronaut, and several themed activities in the Orlando area.

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For the first time, cumulative data on every passenger since the first commercial suborbital flight in 2021 reveals insights into this segment of the commercial space travel market, in exclusive analysis from Spaceport Lounge.

Market is a pivotal concept here, because while orbital commercial travel is still dominated by government agencies, suborbital passengers reflect mainly private market forces, providing an initial view of demand for independent space travel and tourism.

The data, segmented by occupation, funding source, and gender, shows who is flying, how providers allocate access, and how costs are shouldered across self-funders, sponsors, and giveaways.

Suborbital v. Orbital Space Travel

Suborbital space travel consists of brief flights to the edge of space. It takes about 10 minutes in a Blue Origin rocket-launched capsule reaching just beyond the Kármán Line at roughly 62 miles. The other option is about 60 minutes in a Virgin Galactic spaceplane climbing to the U.S. definition of space, at about 50 miles. In both cases, passengers experience a few minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth.

In contrast, orbital commercial flights are multi-day missions, typically to the International Space Station or on custom orbital itineraries currently offered by SpaceX, Boeing, and Roscosmos. See our infographic on Space Travel Options for further details.

Suborbital Travel Evolution

Commercial suborbital travel has evolved into a repeatable excursion, with Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic accounting for all suborbital commercial passengers flown to date. The data in this report combines both operators and includes all of the 116 suborbital commercial passengers to date from July 2021 through September 2025.

Blue Origin is currently the only active operator and has increased its rocket and capsule fleet to enable nearly monthly missions. Virgin Galactic paused Unity spaceplane flights in 2024 to focus on production of its next-generation Delta-class spaceplanes, and is expected to resume service in 2026. The combined passenger data provides a demographic and behavioral snapshot of suborbital demand so far.

What Passengers Do for Work

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Space travel has historically been driven by engineering necessity and safety. Yet as government agencies, private companies, and tourists increasingly share the experience, the need for improved sleep quality and more comfortable quarters is evolving.

In the hospitality world, beds and room space are a foundation of the experience. Comfort, privacy, functionality, amenities, views, and the promise of repose define value and the same expectations are beginning to take hold in orbit. We explore what a night’s sleep looks like in space today and how designers are reshaping it for tomorrow’s spacefarers.

Current Sleeping Facilities

International Space Station
On the ISS, long-duration astronauts typically use private crew quarters, small booths about the size of a phone booth, each with a sleeping bag, ventilation ducts, a light, a laptop, and room for personal mementos. There are four booths in the U.S. Harmony module and two more in the Russian Zvezda module, giving the station six permanent cabins. When the crew is at six, everyone can sleep in a booth.

The ISS often hosts more, especially during crew rotations or visiting missions. Short-term residents such arriving crews during handovers sleep in tethered bags attached to the walls of other modules. Privacy is minimal in those cases, and the experience resembles what early ISS astronauts endured before private quarters were installed.

Chinese Space Station (Tiangong)
Tiangong offers six individual crew berths. Just built in the past few years, it appears sleeker and more modern than the decades-old ISS. It boasts integrated storage, personal lighting, and a minimalist finish reminiscent of Tokyo’s capsule hotels. Each berth is compact yet private, with attention paid to both aesthetics and function.

SpaceX Orbital Missions
Crew Dragon capsules, used for ISS transport and private orbital trips, offer no separate sleeping quarters. Astronauts sleep where they sit, reclining in their seats, or zip into lightweight bags tethered to the capsule’s interior walls. Lighting can be dimmed, but there is almost no privacy, with four people inside a volume not much bigger than an SUV.

The Challenges of Sleep in Orbit

Sleep in space is shaped by four constant realities. The first is the light cycle. Astronauts see a sunrise or sunset every 90 minutes, disrupting circadian rhythms. Even with LEDs dimmed for night periods, one in five sleep sessions on the ISS is misaligned with natural body clocks.

The second is noise and vibration. Fans and pumps run continuously, creating background noise that earplugs only partly muffle.

The third is airflow. In microgravity, exhaled carbon dioxide lingers, so each cabin needs a steady stream of ventilation near the head. Poor airflow can leave astronauts groggy or at risk of CO₂ buildup.

The fourth is privacy. Astronauts work, eat, and exercise within meters of one another for months at a time. The ability to retreat to a private berth, however small, remains one of the most valuable design features of modern stations.

Near-Future Accommodations

Several companies are now designing habitats that improve the sleep experience.

• Axiom Space: Its first habitat module, Hab-1, scheduled to launch later this decade, will feature four private crew quarters. Thales Alenia Space is building the module, while French designer Philippe Starck is shaping the interiors with an emphasis on comfort, lighting, and aesthetics alongside improved volume, airflow, and controls.

  

• Starlab: A joint project by Voyager Space and Airbus, with Hilton tapped to help design interiors, Starlab is explicitly borrowing from hospitality. Its sleeping quarters and shared living areas are being shaped with attention to lighting, materials, and human comfort

• Orbital Reef: Blue Origin and Sierra Space envision Orbital Reef as a multi-use commercial station. Sierra Space’s inflatable LIFE habitat provides multi-deck living space, with dedicated sleeping and hygiene areas. The scale allows designers to build quiet neighborhoods, moving crew away from noisy equipment bays.

  

• Vast (Haven-1): Marketed as the first small commercial station, Vast has unveiled concepts for private sleeping quarters and even a patent-pending sleep system. Its compact scale emphasizes comfort within a minimalist footprint, while promising a more human-centered interior than earlier capsules.

Across these projects, common themes stand out: more volume per person, better acoustic insulation, personalized airflow, and tunable lighting that supports circadian health.

Longer-Term Concepts

Designers are exploring concepts that could redefine sleep in space. In the next decade, circadian-aware cabins with adaptive lighting are expected to become standard, and multipurpose pods shielded by water or storage could double as storm shelters.

Over the following decades, researchers envision short-radius centrifuge pods to provide nightly artificial gravity, inflatable habitats with acoustically separated cabin rows, and biophilic features such as virtual windows or natural soundscapes.

For deep-space missions, hibernation-style capsules could help save supplies, while dorms built under layers of lunar or Martian soil could shelter crews on the surface.

Balancing Comfort and Constraints

Fifty years ago, Skylab astronauts slept in hammocks, surrounded by rattling machinery. Today, astronauts enjoy private phone-booth cabins on the ISS, and taikonauts in Tiangong rest in more refined berths.

Future space travelers, whether government scientists, corporate researchers, or private tourists, will push for something closer to a hotel room than a basic pod. Just as hotel guests here pay extra for space, views, and privacy, orbital travelers will value similar upgrades in their space travel quarters, where real estate is even more scarce and costly.

The question is when such comforts can be built into stations, given the constraints of volume and expense that define space construction.

Passenger revenue in commercial space travel is surging year-over-year, but all of the gains are concentrated in just two companies. In the first half of 2025, SpaceX grew its already dominant orbital revenue base by $300 million, while Blue Origin quadrupled its suborbital passenger count after expanding its fleet. Together, they account for 100% of the sector’s commercial passenger revenue in the first half of 2025.

Industry growth came despite Boeing and Virgin Galactic recording no flights or passengers in the first half of 2025, widening the gap between active operators and those on pause.

Some of the most revealing insights in our mid-year wrap with the full picture in the charts below:

• Two-thirds of SpaceX’s passenger revenue comes from outside NASA’s Commercial Crew Program providing revenue diversification.

• An estimated one-third of Blue Origin passengers flew without paying themselves, as invited guests, grant recipients, or contest winners.

• North America accounts for nearly 70% of all commercial space passengers. Learn how the rest of the world divides the remaining 30%.

• SpaceX maintains a 50/50 gender balance; the full breakdown shows how other companies compare.

• Blue Origin’s passengers averaged 55 years old over the past 12 months, with an age range from 21 to 85. See how this stacks up across all operators in the charts.

This report is based on publicly available information and independent analysis. Spaceport Lounge tracks shifts in commercial space travel, where analysis is scarce and inconsistent. The figures are not flawless, but they reveal essential trends in passenger segments, flight cadence, and revenue growth. Using careful modeling and our proprietary database, we create a reliable baseline that preserves the origins of the industry. Estimates and modeling are used for revenue figures in this report with revenue recognition timing based on mission launch dates.

H1 2024 vs. H1 2025 – Commercial Space Travel

Passenger Revenue

For estimated revenue, Blue Origin quadrupled suborbital revenue year-over-year after resuming flights in early 2024 and adding new hardware in Q4 2024, setting up for near-monthly missions in 2025. SpaceX grew 64% on a large base, adding $300 million to H1 revenue. Boeing and Virgin Galactic dropped to zero, widening the gap between active and idle operators. The results reflect both the narrowing field of active providers when others pause for retooling and the dominant role of orbital missions in overall revenue.

Total Passengers

Passenger volume climbed from 24 in H1 2024 to 36 in H1 2025, a 50% increase. Blue Origin was the primary driver, quadrupling from six to 24 passengers after ramping suborbital flights. SpaceX also expanded, growing from eight to 12 passengers. Virgin Galactic and Boeing recorded no passengers in 2025 after modest activity the prior year. The gains highlight how both players benefited from investments in fleet expansion.

Total Missions

Commercial passenger missions rose from six in H1 2024 to seven in H1 2025. Blue Origin increased its cadence from one to four missions, and SpaceX from two to three. Virgin Galactic and Boeing had no launches in the period. The modest net gain reflects the offsetting effect of Virgin Galactic’s pause and Boeing’s slow ramp-up.

Trailing 12 Months July 2024-June 2025

Revenue by Company

For estimated revenue, SpaceX captured 94.6% of all commercial passenger revenue over the period ($1.206B), with Blue Origin at 5.4% ($68.4M). The split underscores the revenue power of orbital flights and SpaceX’s market control. No other operator recorded passenger-derived revenue during the past 12 months.

Suborbital Passenger Revenue

Only Blue Origin flew suborbital passengers during the period, generating an estimated $1.9M per seat. SPL infers that a portion of these travelers flew on a complimentary basis as Blue Origin guests. Some high-profile celebrities, along with STEM leaders, former astronauts, and other aspiring spacefarers, were likely invited for promotional or educational purposes. Others received seats through independent grants or contests, (Blue Origin does not offer grant or contest programs). Spaceport Lounge will share further insights on suborbital passenger segmentation in an upcoming report.

Orbital Passenger Revenue

For estimated orbital revenue, SpaceX maintained a clean sweep of the $1.2B orbital segment, supported by revenue streams beyond NASA contracts. Billionaire-led private missions, Axiom’s charter purchases, and NASA CCP contracts provide multiple sources of demand. Boeing remains dependent on NASA’s Commercial Crew Program, with no private passengers to date.

Passengers by Region

Nearly 70% of all commercial passengers originated from North America. The concentration reflects U.S. dominance in launch infrastructure and legacy positioning from the original space race.

Gender and Age by Company

NASA CCP and Axiom are broken out separately, as they control crew selection despite flying aboard SpaceX vehicles. SpaceX has consistently flown equal numbers of male and female passengers. Blue Origin skews older, reflecting the lower physical demands of suborbital travel. Its passengers average 55 years old, with ages ranging from 21 to 85 over the past 12 months.

Why this data matters
Commercial space travel is still in its early stages and the patterns forming now will shape the industry for decades. The figures are not flawless, but they capture essential trends in passenger numbers, flight cadence, and revenue growth, along with the current concentration of market share. Documenting these developments in real time ensures we create a reliable baseline to preserve the industry’s origins.

Access the full picture
That work is sustained by our subscribers. Paid members receive complete access to all articles, archives, and data reports. Students and educators can request complimentary access. Our Space Travel Data Steward tier offers early dataset access and custom queries, enabling deeper collaboration in documenting this history.

At Spaceport Lounge, our mission is to humanize space travel and preserve its record as it unfolds. Thank you for reading and for helping build the definitive chronicle of the emerging commercial space travel era.

Sometime in June, Axiom Space will launch its fourth private mission, Ax-4, to the International Space Station (ISS). The flight features an international crew of three government-sponsored professional astronauts in contrast with Axiom’s first mission, in which three passengers each personally paid aproximately $55 million for the two-week experience. An Axiom commander with NASA experience has led all of the missions.

The $55M level is the current per-seat market rate for a multi-day stay in orbit, whether traveling to the ISS as a tourist or agency-sponsored astronaut, or sleeping aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon circling the planet, as in the recent Fram-2 and Polaris Dawn missions.

Axiom plays a unique role in space travel because, unlike SpaceX and Blue Origin, it does not operate rockets. Instead, it charters the Crew Dragon from SpaceX and negotiates with NASA for ISS services such as workspace, docking, and meals, wh…

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Blue Origin’s first all-female flight drew global attention through its celebrity participants, as intended, but also generated controversy across several fronts, from the use of the term “astronaut” to questions of environmental cost and authenticity. These critiques require closer examination to understand their validity.

Observing the Mission

The NS-31 mission, launched on April 14, 2025, brought together a roster of high-profile participants, including Katy Perry, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, and Kerianne Flynn. Read more about their backgrounds and accomplishments here.

Watching a Blue Origin mission from launch to landing requires only about 10 minutes and provides a deeper understanding of the pivotal shift in how we travel. Links to a few videos are included at the end of this artic…

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When considering the lifestyle aspect of space travel, it’s worth noting that our ancient bond with animals has extended into space.

Human connection with animals began over 15,000 years ago with hunting partnerships with wolves, which evolved into domesticated dogs. Sheep, goats, pigs, cows, and cats were domesticated next, becoming fixtures in early settlements. Mice crashed the gathering by seeking out food stores.

Perhaps inevitably, animals not only accompanied humans into space but preceded us, playing a vital, sometimes sacrificial role. By flying first, they helped identify what conditions were safe and what weren’t for human space travel.

Fruit flies went first, followed by dogs, monkeys, turtles, and one cat, each facing extreme risk and frequent fatalities. Each mission advanced scientific understanding, paving the way for human missions.

Today, most animal space research involves small species aboard the ISS and Chinese space station. Mice, fruit flies, tardigrades, fish, and insects are studied to understand how microgravity impacts biology, aging, radiation, and development. This research is vital to improve long-duration missions.

Animal Pioneers and Scientific Contributions

The first creatures sent to space were fruit flies, launched by the U.S. in 1947 aboard a V-2 rocket to study radiation. In 1948, Albert I, a rhesus monkey, became the first vertebrate in space, though he did not survive. These early missions laid the foundation for more complex biological experiments.

The Soviet Union, and later Russia, remains the only nation known to have sent dogs into space. Between the late 1940s and early 1990s, at least 57 dogs flew suborbital and orbital missions. These missions relied on Moscow strays, selected for their toughness and trained for high-stress environments, to test life support, microgravity tolerance, and recovery systems.

The most famous of these canine cosmonauts was Laika, launched aboard Sputnik 2 in 1957. Although she died of overheating hours after launch, her mission proved that mammals could survive launch and orbital conditions and led to advances in life-support design. In 1960, Belka and Strelka completed the first full-day orbital mission and returned safely with a rabbit, mice, and plants. The flight demonstrated full mission survivability and served as a precursor to Yuri Gagarin’s flight, the first crewed orbital mission in history.

In contrast, the United States employed primates for their physiological and neurological similarity to humans. Between 1948 and 1996, at least 32 monkeys including rhesus, squirrel monkeys, and chimpanzees participated in space missions. Many died during or after flight, but they provided valuable insights into behavior, cognition, and survival in space.

Ham the chimpanzee, launched in 1961 aboard Mercury-Redstone 2, and Enos, later that year on Mercury-Atlas 5, were key to proving humans could follow. Ham performed tasks in microgravity, confirming trained beings could function in space. Enos became the first U.S. animal to orbit Earth, completing two orbits and operating levers despite malfunctions. His mission validated life-support systems and cleared the way for John Glenn’s 1962 flight.

Other nations contributed to early research. In 1963, France sent a cat named Félicette on a suborbital flight to study neural activity. She survived and remains the only feline astronaut to date.

Animal travelers advanced science in critical ways. Frogs and fish showed how the inner ear adapts to microgravity and helped explain motion sickness. Rodents revealed rapid bone and muscle loss, informing astronaut training. Mice exposed to cosmic radiation highlighted DNA damage risks, while cardiovascular shifts, hormone regulation, and reproduction were all first studied in animals.

These animals laid the scientific groundwork for human space exploration, providing essential data on how life endures beyond Earth. Without them, the first human spaceflights by Gagarin and Glenn might not have launched when they did.

Soviet Legacy and Successor Claims

After the U.S. ended its animal spaceflights in the 1970s, the Soviet Union continued into the 1990s, focusing on primates aboard its Bion satellites. Early missions featured dogs, but later flights used rhesus macaques to study long-term effects of microgravity with most animals safely recovered.

Iran revived interest in the 2010s, launching turtles, mice, and monkeys on suborbital rockets. The most publicized was in 2013, when Iranian media claimed a monkey named Fargam reached space and returned. Inconsistencies in photos raised skepticism, and no international body confirmed the mission. Though framed as steps toward human flight, the credibility remains disputed.

North Korea has claimed to launch animals into space, including a dog in 2012, but these reports remain unverified and are widely viewed as propaganda.

Modern Missions and Ongoing Research

Animal research remains central to space science. So far in 2025, the ISS has hosted mice, fruit flies, tardigrades, and small fish to study bone loss, immune function, aging, and DNA repair. These organisms serve as human analogs, helping researchers understand muscle atrophy, circadian disruption, and radiation effects. Most are housed in controlled habitats and returned safely to Earth, supporting preparation for longer missions to the Moon or Mars.

China’s Tiangong Space Station is also expanding biological research. As of mid-2025, it hosts zebrafish for vertebrate studies and fruit flies for genetics and circadian rhythm research. Planarian flatworms will soon follow to explore regeneration.

The Future of Animals in Space

Looking ahead, animals may play new roles as spacefarers. As Artemis missions push toward permanent lunar and Martian outposts, questions of agriculture and companionship arise. Could chickens lay eggs in lunar greenhouses? Would goats or rabbits adapt to microgravity farms?

The number of people inhabiting space is increasing, typically averaging around 10 aboard the ISS and Tiangong combined, with more during crew changeovers. A record 19 was reached in 2023, with 13 on stations and six briefly in space on a Blue Origin flight. By 2035, five new stations could push capacity to 70 people.

With the growing station population and rise of space tourism, it seems only a matter of time before someone takes a pet. Would a passenger pay $2.5 million for their pet to occupy a seat as the first private animal on a suborbital flight? Time will tell.

The first crewed mission to orbit Earth from pole to pole was funded by a private, global citizen with a passion for extreme environments—and the money to make it happen. When SpaceX’s Fram2 mission splashed down near Oceanside, California, yesterday, it completed a five-day journey across the poles and marked the beginning of something new: orbital travel as the next polar adventure accolade.

Fram2 carried a team of experienced Arctic and Antarctic professionals—adventurers who have skied to the ends of the Earth, built careers on exploring remote places, and now found a way to take that spirit to orbit. They didn’t earn their way to space through military training or doctoral research. They were invited by a friend, a fellow adventurer, who saw them as trustworthy colleagues, experts in their niche, and kindred spirits who would share the greatest possible appreciation fo…

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Blue Origin’s upcoming NS-31 mission will feature the company’s first all-female crew, a rarity in both agency and commercial missions, making it a notable milestone in space travel.

Scheduled for launch in spring 2025, the six-woman crew, which includes celebrities Lauren Sanchez, Katy Perry, and Gayle King, will ride aboard the reusable New Shepard rocket on a brief suborbital flight, experiencing a few minutes of weightlessness before returning to Earth after about 10 minutes total travel time.

While the flight duration may seem minimal, risk looms as the trip begins by blasting off in a rocket powered by 160,000 pounds of combustible liquid hydrogen. After a brief float at its apex above the Karman Line, the capsule endures a bumpy reentry before parachuting into the West Texas desert. Blue Origin passengers are not highly trained astronauts (with a few exceptions), but they are undeniably early adventurers embracing the risks of early commercial space travel.

Like previous Blue Origin missions, NS-31 passengers are a mix of paying clients, aerospace industry experts, and invited celebrities. What’s special about this particular mission, in addition to its all-female crew with laudable credentials in their fields, is that it features, measurably, the greatest star power of any space flight to date.

A Highly Accomplished Crew

The NS-31 crew consists of accomplished professionals from journalism, music, aerospace, activism, and filmmaking. This mission continues Blue Origin’s practice of inviting high-profile individuals on suborbital flights:

• Lauren Sánchez – The mission leader, known for her television journalism career and prominence as Amazon and Blue Origin founder Jeff Bezos’s fiancée, Sánchez earned her helicopter pilot’s license in 2016. She later founded Black Ops Aviation, an aerial film production company specializing in Hollywood and commercial projects.

• Katy Perry – One of the best-selling music artists of all time, Perry has sold over 143 million records worldwide, with nine No. 1 Billboard Hot 100 hits. Beyond music, she has built a successful business empire in fashion, fragrance, and philanthropy.

• Gayle King – An award-winning journalist, King has co-hosted CBS Mornings since 2012, earning multiple Emmy nominations. A close confidante of Oprah Winfrey, she has conducted high-profile interviews with world leaders and celebrities, shaping conversations in media and culture.

• Aisha Bowe – A former NASA rocket scientist, Bowe transitioned from aerospace engineering to entrepreneurship, founding STEMBoard, a company focused on technology solutions. She is a passionate advocate for increasing diversity in STEM fields and will become the first Black woman to fly with Blue Origin.

• Amanda Nguyen – A civil rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee, Nguyen founded Rise, an organization that helped pass the Sexual Assault Survivors’ Rights Act. She is a tireless advocate for human rights and has addressed global leaders at the United Nations.

• Kerianne Flynn – A film producer committed to impactful storytelling, Flynn has worked on films such as This Changes Everything, which addresses gender disparity in Hollywood. She also serves on nonprofit boards, supporting arts and environmental initiatives in New York City.

There are no manual controls in the RSS Next Step capsule, but still it must be comforting for all involved to have the combination of Sánchez’s helicopter piloting experience coupled with the knowledge of a rocket scientist like Aisha Bowe simply for insights during the flight.

As far as star power is concerned, Blue Origin is continuing its practice of inviting notable personalities to participate in its missions. The company has previously sent William Shatner, the iconic Star Trek actor, to space on NS-18, and Michael Strahan, former NFL player and TV host, on NS-19.

The inclusion of Perry on this flight makes it the most star-powered space flight to date. Based on her 350 million social media followers and 1 million Google searches per month, she tops all other Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic space travelers combined.

The Evolution of Female Space Travel

Women have played a vital role in space exploration, though their journey has been gradual. Soviet cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova became the first woman in space aboard Vostok 6 in 1963, which was the only other all-female mission (solo). Two decades later, Sally Ride followed as the first American woman in space aboard Challenger in 1983.

Female presence in space has increased over time. In 1996, Eileen Collins and Bonnie Dunbar flew together on STS-75 (Columbia), marking the first time two women shared a mission. In 2019, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir conducted the first all-female spacewalk during Expedition 61 on the International Space Station (ISS).

NASA’s astronaut corps has historically been male-dominated, but female participation is growing. Of 360 astronaut candidates, 61 have been women (17%). As of 2024, women make up 42.6% of NASA’s active astronauts. Despite progress, they remain underrepresented, comprising 12% of all space travelers.

Blue Origin, for its part, has lagged in female passenger representation with 23% of passengers to date being female, while Virgin Galactic is at 36%, and Space X is at 50% of its private commercial passengers. The all-female mission will help Blue Origin narrow the gap versus their competitors.

What’s Next for Women in Space Travel

Blue Origin NS-31 is a high-profile suborbital mission that brings attention to women’s participation in space travel. While commercial spaceflight has opened opportunities beyond career astronauts, access remains largely restricted to the wealthy and well-connected. Women’s representation in space tourism is increasing, though it is far from broadly accessible. For greater insights on travel by gender, see the SPL article, Commercial Space Travel Demographics.

Meanwhile, it is exciting and encouraging to consider that NASA’s Artemis program is set to land the first woman on the Moon, marking a significant step in gender representation in deep-space exploration. While NASA has not officially confirmed who will be the first woman on the Moon, astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir (who performed the first all-female spacewalk) are among those considered strong candidates.

Lauren Sanchez interviews the NS-31 crew in this short clip. Reel: laurenwsanchez IG

Hilton established an early, visionary long game strategy to achieve its dominance in space hospitality branding. This trajectory began with imaginative PR in the 1960s, self-propelled within pop culture, and is now transforming into actual deployment of its brand and designs in a private space station.

When Hilton Hotels appeared alongside Howard Johnson’s and Pan Am in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), it may have seemed like a whimsical nod to the distant future of space travel. However, this cinematic moment was more than fiction—it helped associate Hilton with the future of space travel in the public imagination. Over time, such cultural references have supported Hilton’s early branding success in space hospitality.

More than 50 years later, Hilton is turning that moment into a competitive advantage. While other hospitality brands remain Earth-b…

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Spacesuits aren’t just for government astronauts anymore. With the rise of commercial space travel, this critical gear is becoming lighter, more flexible, and tailored to meet the demands of different missions—whether for brief suborbital tourist flights or longer orbital voyages.

Leading fashion brands and designers are collaborating with spacelines to combine function with high style. SpaceX, for example, worked with designer José Fernández to create its sleek white spacesuit, while Virgin Galactic teamed up with Under Armour to craft athletic flight wear for their passengers. Even luxury brands like Prada have joined the cosmic fashion scene partnering with Axiom Space to develop advanced lunar suits for NASA’s Artemis III mission.

But which suits excel in function, comfort, and style? And what innovations are shaping the future of spacewear, especially for destinations like the Moon and Mars? In this article, Spaceport Lounge unveils the evolution of these groundbreaking designs.

Spacesuit Showroom Walk-Off

Commercial space travel companies have developed unique spacesuit designs tailored to their mission priorities—ranging from comfortable jumpsuits for quick trips to the edge of space to safety-driven innovations for low Earth orbit—spotlighting the growing innovation in spacewear.

Virgin Galactic partnered with Under Armour to craft flight suits that merge athletic performance with technology. These garments dynamically regulate body temperature to prevent overheating during atmospheric ascent and descent. They also feature biometric monitoring to provide real-time feedback on vital signs, enhancing both safety and performance.

Blue Origin, in contrast, takes a practical approach with vibrant blue flight suits designed for its short, suborbital New Shepard flights. Since these journeys last only about ten minutes, the suits prioritize comfort and mobility over complex life-support systems. The lightweight construction allows passengers to move freely during weightlessness, reducing bodily stress while maintaining essential safety features like pressure resistance.

SpaceX has collaborated with Hollywood designer José Fernández, known for his work on superhero films, to create its sleek cabin suit. Lightweight and form-fitting, it is engineered for both safety and style aboard the Crew Dragon capsule. The pressure-tight suit includes integrated touchscreen-compatible gloves and a helmet-mounted life-support system. SpaceX's Extravehicular Activity (EVA) suits were developed by the company's internal engineering team, led by principal spacesuit engineer Erik Kraus.

Government space agencies rely on proven spacesuit designs optimized for demanding missions. NASA’s Extravehicular Mobility Unit (EMU) is a robust, multilayered suit designed for spacewalks, providing radiation shielding, thermal protection, and micrometeoroid defense. Roscosmos' Sokol pressure suits, though utilitarian and visually outdated, remain critical for emergency scenarios aboard the Soyuz spacecraft, offering decades of reliable survival capabilities during launch and re-entry.

Adding to the innovation, luxury fashion houses have entered the space race. Prada recently partnered with Axiom Space to develop next-generation lunar suits for NASA’s Artemis III mission to the Moon and Mars. Prada's expertise in advanced materials and design is shaping suits that balance high-performance function with style.

This movement could pave the way for future collaborations with other high-end brands, offering customizable suits for multi-day space cruises or lunar hotels. As space tourism matures, designer spacewear may become a new status symbol—blending exclusivity, technology, and aesthetic appeal.

Which Suit Reigns Supreme?

Spacesuit design varies widely based on mission type—whether it’s a multi-hour spacewalk in low earth orbit or a ten-minute flight to the edge of space. Key variables include:

Weight:
NASA’s EMU weighs 275 pounds due to its protective layers and life-support systems—essential for prolonged space exposure. In contrast, SpaceX’s IVA suit weighs under 20 pounds, while Final Frontier Design’s cabin suits are around 50 pounds, balancing mobility and cost-efficiency. For short suborbital tourist flights, passenger flight suits prioritize comfort and mobility, resembling lightweight jumpsuits designed for brief weightlessness and rapid atmospheric transitions.

Dexterity:
Older spacesuit designs prioritized protection over flexibility, limiting mobility during spacewalks. Modern commercial flight suits enable easier movements. Blue Origin and Virgin Galactic flight suits allow tourists to move freely and enjoy weightlessness.

Fit:
Space tourism flight suits are basically custom-fitted jumpsuits, much more comfortable than deep-space suits. SpaceX uses body scans for a precise fit for its cabin and spacewalk suits. Final Frontier Design also focuses on mobility and emergency preparedness in its space cabin suits.

Cost:
Suit costs vary by function. NASA’s EMU costs about $12 million each due to its advanced systems and custom construction for perilous spacewalks. Final Frontier Design’s IVA suits target a much lower price of around $50,000. SpaceX cabin and spacewalk suits fall somewhere within this range.

Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin flightsuits for shorter voyages are lightweight and relatively inexpensive enough to offer to passengers as a memento of the trip.

Innovation from Early Spacesuits

The first generation of spaceflight apparel focused entirely on necessity. When Yuri Gagarin launched into orbit in 1961, he wore a simple pressure suit designed for basic survival. NASA’s early Mercury and Gemini suits were similarly functional but restrictive. By the Apollo era, spacesuits had evolved to handle the challenges of lunar exploration, though astronauts still struggled with limited mobility.

Fast forward to today: spacesuits are lighter, more flexible, and far more comfortable. They cater to private spacefarers while retaining the critical life-support systems pioneered by early explorers. In the future, they may even feature advanced materials that self-repair or adapt to changing environmental conditions.

Future Fashion Weeks: Moon and Mars

The next advance in spacesuit technology will be driven by the objective to settle the Moon and Mars. Lunar suits must protect astronauts from extreme temperatures, intense solar radiation, and abrasive lunar dust. NASA’s upcoming xEMU aims to address these challenges with greater flexibility, enhanced insulation, and dust-resistant materials.

On Mars, the challenges are different but equally daunting. Spacesuits will need to balance radiation protection, oxygen supply, and temperature regulation for long-duration surface missions. Engineers are also exploring smart fabrics embedded with sensors to monitor astronauts’ health in real time.

Spacesuits have evolved far beyond their early utilitarian designs. Once purely life-support systems, they are now sophisticated creations and symbols of a new era in private space travel.

Spaceport Lounge’s proprietary database shows that private space travel and tourism continued to grow at a healthy pace in 2024, with a 19% increase in passengers compared to the previous year. The rapid surge that began in 2021 has leveled off somewhat, but is expected to accelerate again when new spacecraft from multiple spacelines become operational in the coming years.

There were a total of 11 missions with 43 passengers that involved private space travel – meaning anyone traveling on private spacecraft or civilians traveling on space agency spacecraft.

Passenger Count by Destination

• 26 space tourists on short voyages just beyond the edge of space

• 13 space agency astronauts transported to the ISS

• 4 private astronauts to a record apogee in low Earth orbit

Passenger Totals by Spaceline/Agency

• Blue Origin: 18

• SpaceX: 14

• Virg…

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As more people venture beyond Earth, the integration of sports into space travel will evolve from fun demos to structured competitions, reflecting our innate desire for bonding through competition. The primary focus of space athletics today lies in the disciplined exercise programs aboard the International Space Station (ISS), designed to mitigate the effects of microgravity, such as bone density loss and muscle atrophy. At the same time, astronauts have fun and entertain by engaging in and sharing video clips of microgravity competitions, which also enlighten viewers about how bodies and objects move in space.

The occasional friendly competitions on the ISS, such as makeshift soccer games or ping pong challenges with floating balls, provide both entertainment and an outlet for the naturally competitive spirits of the astronauts—many of whom are exceptional athletes. Limited space and equipment pose challenges, but these activities hint at the potential for more structured sports in space. Visionaries like the Space Games Federation are exploring how to transform these informal games into fully realized sporting events, complete with rules and structures for competitive play.

The Inception of Space Sports

Sports in space began with simple, amusing activities during the early days of space travel. In 1969, Apollo 12 astronauts Pete Conrad and Alan Bean conducted the first recorded "sport" in space, improvising a javelin throw on the Moon using a lunar scoop handle. Two years later, Alan Shepard famously swung a modified six-iron golf club on the lunar surface during Apollo 14, declaring his ball traveled "miles and miles." These moments were meant to entertain and show how familiar activities from Earth could look on the Moon, sparking the imaginations of sports fanatics.

The classic clip of Alan Shepard golfing on the moon, accompanied by Edgar Mitchel. Both audio and subtitles in this video are good.

Sports on the ISS: Combining Discipline with Fun

Life aboard the ISS revolves around discipline and creativity, particularly in the realm of physical activity. Astronauts follow a rigorous exercise schedule of about two hours per day, aimed at combating the adverse effects of microgravity, including muscle atrophy, bone loss, and cardiovascular deconditioning. The physical benefits of this exercise routine are complemented by its mental health benefits, offering stress relief and fostering team camaraderie.

The workout options are as basic as a small hotel gym – treadmill, exercise bike, and weight machine – yet these require complex adaptation for microgravity. The Advanced Resistive Exercise Device (ARED) simulates weightlifting with vacuum cylinders to target major muscle groups. A treadmill with harnesses allows astronauts to run while tethered, and the Cycle Ergometer lets them pedal without the need for a seat or handlebars. Together, these tools ensure that astronauts remain physically fit and ready for the challenges of long-term space exploration.

The first tennis match in space (NASA video with audio):

Beyond these disciplined routines, astronauts engage in recreational games adapted to their unique environment. Soccer with soft, floating balls, microgravity basketball with creative dunks, and table tennis with unpredictable, weightless paddles are among the favorites. Racing through the station’s corridors has become a popular activity. The playful matches already escalate into debates about rules—for example, whether using mounted handrails for stabilization and propulsion is allowed.

These games not only provide entertainment but also enhance teamwork and foster a sense of connection, proving that recreation plays a vital role in maintaining morale and unity in space.

Astronaut Koishi Wakata from Japan is the ultimate utility player filling in at every baseball position on the ISS (video, no audio):

The Future of Space Sports

The future of space sports lies in moving beyond adaptations of terrestrial games to developing entirely new activities that leverage the unique conditions of microgravity. Linda Rheinstein, founder of the Space Games Federation (SGF), explains that the absence of gravity creates what she calls Equal Space, a truly level playing field for athletes—or Astroletes®—to compete in entirely new ways.

Rheinstein offered, “Organizing sports in space isn’t easy—it’s an entirely new concept, which opens the door to new sports, new playing fields, new rules, new players, new teams, and new coaches. While the fundamentals of competition remain, everything changes when you’re floating in zero gravity.”

SGF has already conducted a worldwide contest for innovative sports designed for microgravity environments, narrowing down hundreds of entries to a “Sweet 16” before the public selected five finalists. These sports, which could include multi-directional obstacle courses and team-based games in floating arenas, demonstrate the creative potential of zero-gravity competition.

Pioneering this field isn’t without challenges, but Rheinstein’s experience in league startups, Olympics, and live sports broadcasting provides a foundation for navigating this new frontier. SGF blends entertainment, education, and competition to inspire a global audience and highlight the importance of space exploration.

As commercial space travel becomes more accessible, recreational opportunities will expand. Companies like SpaceX and Blue Origin are already envisioning activities such as low-gravity basketball and capture-the-flag in orbit. Future space hotels may even feature purpose-built arenas for zero-gravity sports like tennis or dodgeball, offering tourists experiences impossible to replicate on Earth. Inflatable structures, such as those designed by Sierra Space, are lightweight, easy to deploy, and offer a practical solution for creating the larger spaces needed to accommodate team sports in microgravity. These innovative arenas could transform how sports are played in orbit, enabling more dynamic and collaborative games.

SGF is also preparing for its own milestone: the launch of an exhibition sport in space by 2028. Rheinstein explained, “We aim to be part of the future of space exploration, recognizing that competition is an innate human instinct.”

Rheinstein is working to establish zero-gravity sports as a legitimate and inclusive global movement. Through research, partnerships, and education, SGF is building the foundation for sports in space. “Look up,” she likes to say, “The future is sports in space. Equal Space.”

Space exploration is often regarded as the pinnacle of technical and scientific achievement, but for many astronauts, it also serves as a source of creative inspiration. In this new Spaceport Lounge series, we highlight artists who have ventured beyond Earth's atmosphere and used their experiences to create art that bridges science and imagination.

From the first artwork made in space by cosmonaut Alexei Leonov in 1965 to post-mission creations, these visionaries offer unique perspectives:

• Alan Bean: The fourth person to walk on the Moon, Bean incorporated moon dust and spacecraft materials into his paintings, capturing the Apollo missions' awe and technical precision.

• Nicole Stott: Known as the “Artistic Astronaut,” Stott painted watercolors aboard the International Space Station (ISS), combining her love for space and creativity.

• Dr. Sian Proctor: A geoscientist and artist, Proctor participated in SpaceX's Inspiration4 mission in 2021. Her art is part of her mission to “inspire humanity to cherish our cosmic home, embrace our diversity, and co-create a future where we all thrive on Earth and among the stars.”

• Ed Dwight: The oldest person to travel to space at age 90 on a Blue Origin suborbital flight (see infographic), Dwight focuses on sculptures celebrating Black history.

It all began with Alexei Leonov, the Soviet cosmonaut who became the first human to walk in space and then the first to create art in space. Leonov used his experiences to craft works that convey the universe's beauty and mystery.

Childhood in Siberia

Born on May 30, 1934, in the Siberian village of Listvyanka, Alexei Leonov grew up during Stalinist Russia's political and economic turmoil. His father was accused of being an “enemy of the people,” briefly imprisoned, causing the family to struggle with limited resources. Despite these challenges, Leonov displayed remarkable artistic talent, often sketching landscapes and portraits as a creative escape.

Encouraged by his family, Leonov excelled academically, balancing a love for art with an interest in aviation and engineering. Inspired by World War II and the Soviet Union’s space program, he dreamed of space exploration. His formal art training at the Academy of Arts in Riga, Latvia, where he mastered watercolor and oil painting techniques, later blended seamlessly with his cosmonaut career.

First Human Spacewalk 

On March 18, 1965, Alexei Leonov became the first human to step into the void of space during the Voskhod 2 mission. Tethered to his spacecraft, he floated above Earth, marveling at its beauty—a blue marble against the blackness of space.

The foray, however, nearly ended in disaster. Leonov’s suit overinflated in the vacuum of space, making it stiff and unmanageable. Unable to re-enter the airlock in the enlarged suit, he made a quick decision to vent air from the suit, risking decompression sickness. Overheated and exhausted, he finally squeezed back into the spacecraft to safety.  (Read more about this in our Spacewalk article).

Following this incident, Leonov created the first artwork in space—a sketch of Earth’s horizon using colored pencils he had brought aboard—marking a significant moment in space’s cultural history and evolution with the actual creation of artwork there.

Soviet Realism

Leonov’s art often depicted celestial scenes, including planets, stars, and spacecraft. Associated with Soviet Realism, his works combined technical precision with the heroic aspirations of the space age. He completed over 200 works of art, including the first in space.

His paintings are celebrated for their vibrant colors and dynamic compositions, evoking the wonder of space exploration. Notable works that reflect his unique experiences in space include: 

• "Orbital Sunrise": Created aboard Voskhod 2 in 1965, this colored pencil sketch depicts the sun rising over Earth’s horizon as seen from space. It is the first artwork ever created in space.

• "Portrait of Thomas Stafford": Sketched in 1975 during the Apollo-Soyuz mission, this portrait of the American astronaut underscores a spirit of international camaraderie. 

  

• "Over the Black Sea": This self-portrait, painted in 1973, depicts Leonov during his 1965 spacewalk, orbiting above the Black Sea. 

• "First Spacewalk": This painting illustrates Leonov's historic 1965 spacewalk, offering a visual narrative of a pivotal moment in space exploration. The artwork is noted for its technical accuracy and emotional depth.

• "Holy Theotokos with a Space Background": This unique painting depicts the Virgin Mary against the backdrop of Earth as seen from space. Combining Orthodox iconographic traditions with Leonov’s experience as a cosmonaut, it symbolizes the intersection of faith and science, while diverging significantly from Leonov’s style in grounded in Soviet Realism.

  

• "Apollo-Soyuz Docking": Depicting the 1975 Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, this piece commemorates the first international human-crewed spaceflight, symbolizing a significant step in U.S.-Soviet cooperation during the Cold War.

These works exemplify Leonov's ability to merge his firsthand experiences as a cosmonaut with his artistic talent.

Legacy

Leonov’s works are displayed in institutions like the State Tretyakov Gallery in Moscow and the Cosmonautics Memorial Museum, with international exhibitions broadening their reach. Though rare, his paintings occasionally appear at private auctions or galleries.

Leonov forged meaningful friendships with astronauts such as Neil Armstrong and Tom Stafford, the latter during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project. He co-authored Two Sides of the Moon with American astronaut David Scott, bridging Cold War divides, and connected with leaders like Henry Kissinger and Mikhail Gorbachev, promoting peace and collaboration in space exploration.

Fondly remembered in Russia as both a national hero and cultural icon, Leonov died in 2019 at age 85. His art remains a powerful testament to his ability to blend scientific achievement with artistic expression.

Read This Book to Better Understand …

• How Americans and Russians collaborate in high-stakes, confined environments, overcoming language barriers, distinct spacecraft systems, and their countries’ political conflicts, building trust that often extends into genuine friendships.

• The physical toll of extended space travel, including CO2 buildup from system failures or increased crew oxygen consumption.

• The reliance on timely spacecraft deliveries for vital supplies and waste removal.

• The impact of the NASA Space Shuttle program’s demise and subsequent dependence on Russian Soyuz rockets until SpaceX took over astronaut transport.

• The traditional path from Navy test pilot to NASA astronaut. 

Implications for Space Tourism …

• Though not explicitly mentioned, considering specialized roles on the ISS described by Kelly, the 18 tourists who have visited so far likely created an odd dynamic among highly skilled astronauts and increased risk as deadweight, despite their pre-voyage training.

• Greater spacesuit flexibility and spacewalk risk reduction are needed for space tourists to participate safely in this activity. 

  • SpaceX suits, introduced after the book’s publication, show improvements in advanced joint designs and rotational elements to allow astronauts to move more freely, but many of the challenges and risks remain.  

Book Summary and Excerpts

In Endurance, astronaut Scott Kelly shares his year aboard the International Space Station (ISS), setting a record for the longest continuous time an American has spent in space (340 days). The memoir intertwines Kelly’s experiences in orbit with reflections on his childhood, career, NASA training, and struggles, offering an inspiring and deeply human view of space travel.

In this excerpt, Kelly explores his personal growth, recounting the pivotal moment when he committed to becoming a top pilot and astronaut:

"In my freshman year, I started out with great hope that I could turn things around and be a good student, as I had every previous school year. This determination always lasted just a few days, until I realized once again that it was impossible for me to concentrate in class or to study on my own. Soon I was waking up each morning and struggling to think of a reason to go to class, knowing I wouldn’t absorb any of the professor’s lecture. Often, I didn’t go. How was I going to graduate, let alone do well enough to be accepted by any medical school? Everything changed that afternoon when I picked up The Right Stuff.

… I wanted to be like the guys in this book, guys who could land a jet on an aircraft carrier at night and then walk away with a swagger. I wanted to be a naval aviator. I was still a directionless, undereducated eighteen-year-old with terrible grades who knew nothing about airplanes. But The Right Stuff had given me the outline of a life plan."

He reflects on his early Space Shuttle missions, the thrill of launches, and the inherent dangers of spaceflight, touching on the Columbia and Challenger disasters that shaped NASA’s safety protocols and his own approach to risk. These experiences deepened his appreciation for life, teamwork, and the balance between ambition and caution.

Kelly shares insights into his experiences with the Soyuz spacecraft, contrasting NASA and Russian operations, from training to equipment. Despite political tensions, he emphasizes the importance of collaboration, mutual respect, and shared goals in maintaining the space station and advancing exploration.

Here he describes a gathering in which arriving astronauts are welcomed at the weekly dinner on the Russian side of the ISS:

"We head back to the Russian segment for a traditional welcoming party—special dinners are held there every Friday night and on other special occasions, including holidays, birthdays, and good-bye dinners before each Soyuz leaves. Welcoming parties are one of those occasions, and Terry has warmed up my favorite, barbecued beef, which I stick to a tortilla using the surface tension of the barbecue sauce (we eat tortillas because of their long shelf life and lack of crumbs). We also have the traditional foods we share at Friday night dinners—lump crabmeat and black caviar. Everyone is in a festive mood."

Kelly shares the intense physical and psychological challenges of long-duration space travel, detailing effects like muscle atrophy, bone density loss, and fatigue, while facing isolation and monotony. His twin brother, Mark Kelly, (the brothers are highlighted in our “Family Matters in Space” article) played a key role in NASA’s twin study, allowing comparisons between Scott’s body in space and Mark’s on Earth, providing unique insights into the effects of space travel on human health. 

"I make it to the bathroom, flip on the light, and look down at my legs. They are swollen and alien stumps, not legs at all. … I have a strange rash all over my back, the backs of my legs, the back of my head and neck—everywhere I was in contact with the bed. … Normally if I woke up feeling like this, I would go to the emergency room, but no one at the hospital will have seen symptoms of having been in space for a year. … As I try to will myself to sleep, I wonder whether my friend Mikhail Kornienko is also suffering from swollen legs and painful rashes—Misha is home in Moscow after spending nearly a year in space with me. I suspect so. This is why we volunteered for this mission, after all: to discover how the human body is affected by long-term spaceflight."

Kelly emphasizes the importance of persistence and curiosity and reflects on how seeing Earth from space gave him a newfound appreciation for its fragility and the need to protect it. Endurance offers insights into daily life in space, highly relevant both for space travel and lifestyle. This book is a highly recommended by Spaceport Lounge as a compelling, foundational read.

*How to Read or Listen to this Book: 

• For US residents, both the book and audiobook should be available free at your public library checkout counter or online via the Libby App.

• Amazon Link to the Book

A total of 116 passengers to date have passed the FAA 50-mile boundary or 62-mile Kármán line. Data includes paying passengers, invited guests, contest winners, industry travelers, as well as spaceline employees and executives.

The data does not include NASA's Commercial Crew Program (CCP) or pilots operating Virgin Galactic flights. The NASA CCP-dedicated flights were excluded given the amount of NASA-control in the passenger selection. Virgin Galactic pilots are excluded because they operate the spacecraft in-flight as opposed to all other spacecraft operated remotely by ground crews.

Passenger Gender

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