You've run a marathon. Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. Driven a sports car on the Autobahn. Hung out with penguins in Antarctica. What's next? How about space?
Boeing announced Wednesday that it is partnering with Virginia-based Space Adventures to sell commercial space flights. Those interested can purchase passenger seats on the Boeing Crew Space Transportation spacecraft and travel to destinations in low Earth orbit (LEO). Boeing will also transport crews to the International Space Station (ISS).
Pricing was not disclosed; Boeing said it will have more details when full-scale development is underway. Its CST-100 spacecraft can fit seven people, and is expected to be operational by 2015, Boeing said.
In February, Boeing received a $50 million grant from NASA to work on commercial transport of space station crew and the development of human spaceflight opportunities. Boeing was one of five companies that received a total of $50 million from the government space agency as part of the stimulus package.
"By combining our talents, we can better offer safe, affordable transportation to commercial spaceflight customers," Brewster Shaw, vice president and general manager of Boeing's Space Exploration division, said in a statement. "To date, all commercial flights for private spaceflight participants to the ISS have been contracted by Space Adventures."
Space Adventures has flown seven spaceflight participants on eight missions to the ISS.
"With our customer experience and Boeing's heritage in human spaceflight, our goal is not only to benefit the individuals who fly to space, but also to help make the resources of space available to the commercial sector by bringing the value from space back to Earth," said Eric Anderson, co-founder and chairman of Space Adventures.
Whatever the ultimate cost, it likely won't be cheap. Virgin founder Richard Branson has been working on his own commercial spaceflight business, dubbed Virgin Galactic. A seat on his space ship will cost $200,000 per person, with refundable deposits starting at $20,000. There is interest, however. Virgin Galactic has managed to sell seats to about 300 people in 40 countries thus far. Plans for Virgin Galactic space flights are still in the planning stage, but on July 15, the company's space ship flew for the first time with a crew on board.