On January 22nd, Beijing Transcend Manned Space Technology Co., Ltd. held a "Global Space Tourism Launch Conference", publicly showcasing the full-size test module of the commercial manned spacecraft "Transcend One" for the first time, and announcing that young actress Huang Jingyu has become the company's "009 Space Tourist". It is reported that the company plans to launch a manned flight mission in 2028. At present, it has opened ticket pre-sale, including Li Li, academician of the CAE Member. More than ten "space tourists" from the academic, business, aerospace, art, entertainment and other fields have signed contracts. With the development of commercial aerospace, space tourism has evolved from a concept to a reality. What are the forms of space tourism? What technical hurdles are required to engage in this activity? What are the requirements for ordinary people to enter space? Regarding these issues, Pang Zhihao, the chief scientific communication expert of national space exploration technology, introduced them to reporters. First question: What are the forms of space tourism? Pang Zhihao introduced that there are currently three main forms of space tourism activities internationally: suborbital, orbital, and deep space tourism. Suborbital tourism can overlook the Earth's arc near the Carmen Line, which is about 100 kilometers high, and experience brief weightlessness. For example, Virgin Galactic in the UK uses the air launch mode of the White Knight 2 spacecraft and the Unity spacecraft, allowing the White Knight 2 to fly to an altitude of 15 kilometers before releasing the Unity spacecraft, which ignites and climbs above the Karman line, allowing passengers to experience 6 minutes of weightlessness before gliding back. On July 11, 2021, the founder of the company, Richard Branson, participated in a manned test flight at the age of 70 and reached an altitude of 86 kilometers. The New Shepard vertical takeoff and landing rocket from Blue Origin in the United States can carry 6 people for automatic flight, with a total duration of about 10 minutes, including a 4-minute weightlessness experience. On July 20, 2021, the company's founder Jeff Bezos participated in the first manned test flight, flying at an altitude of 107 kilometers. On January 22, 2026, the company completed its 17th manned flight and has currently sent a total of 98 people into space. Orbital tourism involves flying around the Earth in a low Earth orbit at an altitude of 200 to 400 kilometers for several days to several weeks, experiencing long-term weightlessness. For example, in recent years, SpaceX has used the Falcon 9 rocket and Dragon spacecraft to carry out space tourism activities, not only supporting orbital stays, but even conducting commercial spacewalks. At present, deep space tourism is still in the preparatory stage. SpaceX plans to use its developing starship to send passengers to Earth Moon space and even further, experiencing moon flyovers and witnessing the wonders of 'Earth Out'. Question 2: What technical hurdles do we need to overcome to carry out space tourism? Currently, several commercial aerospace companies in China have set their sights on the space tourism "track". How are they progressing? Zhang Agile, the chief designer of the "Voyager 1" spacecraft, introduced that the company has completed the overall scheme demonstration of the reusable suborbital manned spacecraft and obtained the national level commercial manned spaceflight project approval. The company recently completed full-scale spacecraft landing buffer verification tests and plans to conduct key technology verifications such as escape, environmental control and life support, and human factors engineering in 2026; In 2027, the joint commercial rocket company will carry out suborbital ship rocket joint unmanned flight tests; After two successful unmanned flight tests, a manned flight mission is planned to be launched in 2028. The reporter learned that China's first private spacecraft enterprise, Ziwei Technology, completed the suborbital re-entry and return test in 2022. At present, the company's D6 reusable suborbital manned spacecraft has officially entered the engineering development stage. It is planned to conduct flight tests this year and achieve manned flight in 2028 after 20 stable flights. Zhongke Aerospace has recently completed the suborbital flight of the Lihong-1 spacecraft, and has validated key technologies such as parachute aerodynamic deceleration and high-precision landing point control. In addition, the breakthrough in the deep variable thrust technology of the Liqing-1 engine has laid the foundation for suborbital recovery. In the future, the company plans to conduct a 100 kilometer recycling technology verification through Lihong No.2. Pang Zhihao stated that the key technologies for carrying out space tourism mainly lie in full process safety redundancy, high reliability subsystems, and repeatable verification. Domestic commercial aerospace companies are expected to achieve the manned flight plan by 2028, provided that they overcome key technologies such as high reliability transport and propulsion systems, crew safety escape systems, thermal protection and re-entry control, land buffer systems, in cabin life support and environmental control, reusability and rapid maintenance, and pass multiple unmanned suborbital flight tests, as well as full condition escape tests, thermal protection and re-entry repeated verification, manned medical tests, etc. They also need to pass the commercial manned airworthiness standards of the National Space Administration. Looking internationally, Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin went from unmanned to manned in just 3 to 5 years. However, there are many uncertainties in the space tourism program. Pang Zhihao said that any failed verification could delay the plan. In addition, the domestic commercial manned airworthiness standards are still being improved. If the standards are raised, companies need to invest time and funds to adjust their technical solutions. Question 3: What are the requirements for ordinary people to enter space? As is well known, astronauts need to undergo rigorous training. Even if the technical conditions are met, is space something that ordinary people can easily access? Pang Zhihao said that ordinary people do not need to develop a "superhuman physique" for suborbital flight, but they still need to have certain physical fitness, mainly no serious underlying diseases, standard cardiovascular function, and the ability to withstand overload and brief weightlessness of 3 to 4 G (i.e. the force that the body can withstand is 3 to 4 times its own gravity). Simply put, the requirements are slightly higher than riding a roller coaster. However, with adaptive training, most healthy adults can meet the standard. The biggest physiological challenge brought by space tourism is to endure physical overload during the launch and return phases, as well as motion sickness after entering space weightlessness. This experience is like the "continuous version+enhanced version" of a roller coaster, but under the guidance of professionals in the cabin, the body can quickly adapt. Serious underlying diseases such as cardiovascular, respiratory, and psychiatric disorders are absolutely contraindicated in space tourism, while mild chronic diseases require medical evaluation to determine participation. In addition to physical limitations, an important factor that restricts ordinary people from traveling to space is also price. At present, space tourism is undoubtedly an exclusive activity for the wealthy. SpaceX's orbital tourism ticket prices exceed $50 million, while Virgin Galactic and Blue Origin's suborbital tourism also cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The pre-sale tickets for the "Voyager One" ship also cost $3 million each. Pang Zhihao believes that reducing the price of space tourism cannot be achieved overnight, but will be achieved through the development path of rocket recycling and reuse, normalized scale operation, large-scale spacecraft, and sufficient market competition. Essentially, it is a replica of the "technology maturity scale effect price reduction" roadmap of civil aviation. He predicts that with the promotion of large-scale and low-cost space tourism, its price is likely to drop to 50000 to 100000 yuan within 20 years, becoming a niche but accessible high-end leisure activity. (New Society)