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  • Category: Tech

China's Guangzhou Zhongke Aerospace Exploration Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as Zhongke Aerospace) announced that China's space tourism vehicle will make its first flight in 2027.

Recently, China Aerospace Corporation announced that the Chinese space tourism aircraft developed by the company will make its first flight in 2027, and the manned space fringe tourism plan will start in 2028.

According to reports, the above-mentioned space travel vehicle uses a combination of a single-stage rocket and a tourist cabin. The tourist cabin is equipped with four panoramic windows and can carry seven passengers per flight. During the 10-minute flight, passengers will cross the Kármán Line at an altitude of 100 kilometers, experience three minutes of weightlessness, and escape the earth’s gravity. The tourist capsule will finally land safely via parachute.

According to China Economic Net, Zhang Huaiming, deputy general manager of China Aerospace (Guangzhou) Equipment Industry Co., Ltd., said that space tourism projects are more attractive to young high-net-worth people, and there are already customers who have found the company and want to book. China Aerospace has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with China Travel Service Group. In the future, it will not only target the Chinese domestic market, but also explore tourism markets such as Southeast Asia or the Middle East.

He said that the current quotation for a single person in space tourism is as high as more than 2 million yuan (approximately S$370,000). Although taking into account the high research and development costs, manufacturing costs and rocket launch costs, this pricing is still beyond the affordability of ordinary people.

Zhang Huaiming said that since space tourism uses recyclable liquid rockets, the cost will become lower and lower in the future, the price of space tourism will also become cheaper, and the profit margin of enterprises will be greater.

Headquartered in Guangzhou, China Aerospace was established in December 2018 and is China's first mixed-ownership commercial space rocket company. Its business scope covers the research and development of serial launch vehicles, customized space launches, suborbital space tourism, etc. The Chinese Academy of Sciences is the second largest shareholder of China Aerospace.