SpaceX will start sending paying tourists to the ISS as soon as next year

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If you’ve ever wanted to go to space but NASA never called you back, you’ll have the chance as a space tourist next year. Well, only if you have $55 million in cash lying around, as that’s what The New York Times says one ticket to the International Space Station (ISS) will cost when Axiom and SpaceX start carrying civilians next year.

You probably recognize SpaceX here, as they’re never far from the news with its larger-than-life CEO, Elon Musk. The other half of the partnership, Axiom, is a Houston-based private space company co-founded by Michael Suffredini, who is intimately acquainted with the ISS as he led the program at NASA for a decade.

Under the terms of the tourist visa to space, that huge ticket price gets you eight days on the ISS with a trained minder from Axiom, and two days of travel to and from the space station. They’ll be going up in SpaceX’s Crew Dragon capsule, and will also have to pay NASA $35,000 per night for room and board. That’s a hell of a hotel bill..

It should also be noted that this is not the same trip as the recent announcement from Space Adventures, who is also partnering with SpaceX to send tourists into space. That space flight will actually send people into an even high-orbit, but there will be no docking at the ISS.

Oh, and in case you were wondering, that $55 million per head price tag is the same as what NASA is reportedly paying SpaceX per astronaut.

What do you think? If you had the money, would you want to go to space? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to our Twitter or Facebook.

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Joe Rice-Jones

Maker, meme-r, and unabashed geek with nearly half a decade of blogging experience at KnowTechie, SlashGear and XDA Developers. If it runs on electricity (or even if it doesn't), Joe probably has one around his office somewhere, with particular focus in gadgetry and handheld gaming. Shoot him an email at joe@knowtechie.com.