--- title: "NASA is Officially Opening the Space Station to Tourists" description: "NASA will officially allow regular citizens — not just certified astronauts — to visit the International Space Station (ISS)." date: "2019-06-07" modified: "2019-06-07" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/nasa-iss-space-station-tourists" categories: - "NASA" - "Space" tags: - "astronaut" - "iss" - "NASA" - "private spaceflight" - "the digest" --- # NASA is Officially Opening the Space Station to Tourists ![NASA will officially allow regular citizens — not just certified astronauts — to visit the International Space Station.]() *\Image: NASA/Victor Tangermann\* ## Private Astronauts NASA just announced that it will [officially allow regular citizens]() — not just certified astronauts — on board the International Space Station, as well as commercial and marketing activities. Tickets to the ISS won't come cheap. NASA will be charging private companies about $35,000 a night for use of the station's facilities, [according to the *New York Times*](). And that's not including what the companies will charge individuals for transportation to and from the Space Station. "U.S. industry innovation and ingenuity can accelerate a thriving commercial economy in low-Earth orbit," NASA writes [in a statement](). ## Mission Creep Research and testing will continue aboard the ISS to help NASA with its plans to land American astronauts on the surface of the Moon by 2024. Humans have been conducting important work on the ISS for 18 years now, and that's not going to stop any time soon. NASA will allow commercial and even marketing activities, but the companies will have to prove that they actually need the unique microgravity environment "to enable manufacturing, production or development of a commercial application." ## Pricey Tickets Las Vegas-based company Bigelow Aerospace is already planning to use SpaceX's rockets to deliver up to four tourists at a time to the ISS. They won't be the first private individuals visiting the ISS. Seven citizens have visited the space station, as the *Times* reports, in trips organized by Russia. READ MORE: [Want to Buy a Ticket to the Space Station? Soon, You Can.]() \[*The New York Times*\] **More on the ISS:** *[Astronauts Use CRISPR in Space for the First Time Ever]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()