Wealthy Chinese In Space

[zavvy]

<b>Wealthy Chinese may soon embark on private space flights<br /></b><br /><br />LINK<br /><br />Wealthy Chinese citizens may soon embark on private space flights, with the first group of adventurous millionaires starting astronaut training as early as May, state media reported Monday.<br /><br />The possibility of following in the footsteps of Yang Liwei, who became China's first man in space in 2003, has opened up with the entry of US tour operator Space Adventures into the Chinese market, the Beijing News said.<br /><br />Hoping to attract customers among the increasingly affluent Chinese, Space Adventures signed a cooperation agreement with Hong Kong Space Tour Corporation on Sunday in the south Chinese city of Shenzhen, according to the paper.<br /><br />As of now, just one unnamed Chinese has signed up for one of Space Adventures' tour packages, but the two companies expect more to follow soon, the paper said.<br /><br />The plan is for a group of more than 20 Chinese to leave for spaceflight training in the United States as early as May this year, at a price of hundreds of thousands of yuan (tens of thousands of dollars), according to the report.<br /><br />The training "combines medical screenings with accurate and realistic simulations," according to the company's website.<br /><br />It was unclear from the report if the Chinese tour group would go on to participate in the real spaceflight experiences offered by the company, in which case the price tag would increase greatly.<br /><br />The paper said the price for a suborbital flight would most likely exceed 100,000 dollars.<br /><br />Millionaire US businessman Dennis Tito paid a reported 20 million dollars to become the world's first space tourist in 2001. <br /><br />China plans to launch its second manned spaceflight. Shenzhou-6, later this year.

 

[spacester]

I had thought of this angle, but figured it was too far fetched to actually happen. In hindsight, tough, it makes perfect sense.<br /><br />Rich Chinese guys one-upping the capitalists. They don't have to fly anybody to get some attention, and the revenue generated from the training is likely to get a favorable reception from the PTB, whoever that is in this case.<br /><br />But if they actually start flying private citizens on orbital missions . . .<br /><br />This could be the kind of propaganda coup that wakes the american public up on the future of space flight.<br /><br />I wonder if dubya's handlers saw this coming? (Not trying to turn the thread to politics) <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[wvbraun]

"But if they actually start flying private citizens on orbital missions . . ."<br /><br />I think this is *very* unlikely. The chinese space program is run by the military. I have a hard time imagining them being happy to fly some rich civilians.<br /><br />I believe the first privately financed orbital flights will launch from the US (SpaceX, America's Space Prize).

 

[no_way]

"I believe the first privately financed orbital flights will launch from the US"<br /><br />Well, Tito and Shuttleworth already launched from Baikonur. So US may still grab the "entirely privately financed launch" title but first private paying passengers already went to orbit on russian hardware.

 

[davp99]

Just wondering, How Many RICH Chinese are There, to Actually make this worth Happening ??<br /><br />There must be Tons, seeing that Almost 100% of what's Sold in Any Store, Is Made in CHINA ?? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <font size="4">Dave..</font> </div>