spacetoday.net: EADS proposes suborbital space tourism vehicle

Posted: Thu, Jun 14, 2007, 7:31 AM ET (1131 GMT)
EADS Astrium suborbital vehicle concept (EADS)

European aerospace company EADS Astrium unveiled plans on Wednesday to develop a suborbital passenger spacecraft that would compete in the space tourism market. The unnamed "space jet" would take off from a conventional runway under jet power to an altitude of 12 kilometers; there it would ignite a methane/LOX engine to take the vehicle to an altitude of 100 kilometers. The vehicle would carry a pilot and four passengers, who would experience three minutes of weightlessness during the flight. The vehicle would enter commercial service in 2012, provided that development begin in 2008. Astrium estimates that the vehicle could cost as much as €1 billion (US$1.33 billion) to develop, with tickets costing €150,000 to €200,000 (US$195,000 to US$265,000).