Humans have always been curious about what lies above and beyond the horizon of earth. The night sky with its moon and countless stars has been an object of fascination for humankind for many millennia. And with recent technological developments, any common person’s dream of exploring the vast depths of space doesn’t seem to be that far in the future.

Billionaires Richard Branson and Jeff Bezos recently traveled into space opening the doors to a plethora of opportunities for space tourism. Half a century ago, when humans first dared to venture into space and moon, it was only those who had trained and dedicated their entire life for this purpose itself that were allowed to do so and only government funded public institutions had the capability to do so. Today, the same feats have been accomplished by seemingly normal people and private companies. 

Space tourism is about to open soon and this would be an important step in making humans an interplanetary species. The progression of space tourism looks to be very similar to how the airline industry grew if we ignore its use by the military. When the Wright brothers invented the airplane, it was only the trained and dedicated who would fly. With time and technological development, the rich would fly too and aircrafts were viewed as luxurious vehicles. And with gradual progress and advancements, the airplane became what it is today; simply a mode of transport.

With the spacecraft, we’re still in the ‘rich flying for luxury’ stage. But, it may soon be possible that interplanetary travel may become very common in our everyday life. Extraterrestrial colonisation is becoming a popular idea and space tourism has become a fascination of billionaires and dreamers. 

These ideas are getting closer to reality with the new age space race. The second half of the twentieth century saw the USSR and US fighting for space dominance. This time it’s the billionaires and the private companies doing so. SpaceX, BlueOrigin and Virgin Galactic are each making tremendous progress towards reaching new heights. And with startups from various countries entering into this industry, it’s safe to say that this technology is bound to grow exponentially.

With all this in mind, great things can definitely be expected from the future and if you’re a fan of science fiction; you, my friend, are in for a hell of a ride.