Suborbital Tourism

Why in News?

Recently, Blue Origin announced the suspension of its New Shepard suborbital space tourism programme for at least two years to focus on developing its lunar capabilities.

• Aim – To provide private individuals with a brief experience of space travel and weightlessness as a part of space tourism.
• Objectives –
  • Offer views of Earth’s curvature and space.
  • Enable paying passengers to experience spaceflight.
• Service Providers – Blue Origin – Private space company owned by Jeff Bezos that operates the New Shepard suborbital flights.
• Virgin Galactic – Another commercial spaceflight company developing suborbital spacecraft for tourists, aiming to make space accessible.
• Altitude – Around 100–105 km above Earth (Kármán line region).
• Key Features – Trajectory – A spacecraft does not complete an orbit around Earth but follows a parabolic path and returns due to gravity.
• Duration – Flight lasts about 10–15 minutes. Hence, considered one of the shortest and quickest trips to space.
• Microgravity – Engines shut down at peak, allowing a few minutes of weightlessness.
• Technology – Requires less energy and simpler heat shielding than orbital missions.

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• Significance – Suborbital flights are simpler and cheaper because they operate at
  • They operate at only about 13% of orbital speed.
  • Reach just one-quarter to one-fifth of orbital altitude.

Reference

TH | Suborbital tourism