Space tourism is just the beginning of space exploration.
This is the word from Brad Inggs, whose Durban company Orbital Horizon, in partnership with American company Xcor Aerospace, recently began offering trips into space in a new suborbital spaceship.
The trip is expected to cost $95 000 (R660 000) and would depart from the US.
“South Korea and one of the islands in the Caribbean is another proposed launch site – we hope South Africa is allowed to do it soon,” Inggs said.
People interested in experiencing the 30-minute trip, he said, would first pay a $20 000 deposit and fly (not included in the fee) to the US to undergo medical tests.
“If they pass the test they pay the rest and move on to the next stage of acrobatic training, psychological testing and training in G-forces in Arizona to prepare for their trip,” said Inggs.
After that, he said, they would come back to South Africa to wait for the call.
The trips were not just about enjoyment, he said, and part of the fee charged would go towards research.
Research
“We want to use this capital to fund interplanetary research and look into new lunar projects. The moon is rich in deposits of Helium-3 which is used in nuclear fusion research,” he said.
Cars, he said, could be powered by the substance to run for “thousands of kilometres” which would help counter the effects of climate change.
“The moon could also revolutionise how we communicate – it needs to be established if we can build a communications station there,” he said.
“These funds can help us do that.”
Inggs, who has a background in electronics and marketing, said his company had seen an opening in the South African market and “taken it”.
“Our trip has an advantage because the person travelling in the aircraft (a two-seater Lynx, a spacecraft slightly bigger than a Cessna) can see their surroundings during the whole trip. They don’t need to wait for zero-gravity to get up and look out,” he said.
This, he said, was because they would be sitting in the cockpit with the pilot.
“They would be able to see the curvature of the Earth and the darkness of outer space.”
Inggs is also the founder of the African Space Institute, which aims to inspire students into “getting curious” about space. “We use the entertainment type of Hollywood space to hook them and then we teach them about space – we want to show them that the stars are not beyond their research,” he said.
The Durban-born resident said he had been fascinated by space ever since he was a child.
“It’s like there’s no longer anything that’s science fiction – we can break whatever boundaries we want to,” he said.
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