WHEN SpaceShipOne blazed a contrail into the clear blue sky above the Mojave desert on 21 June, it became the first privately built crewed craft to reach space. With that one flight, Burt Rutan’s budget rocket plane broke the government monopoly on spaceflight – leaving pundits excitedly predicting an era of private sub-orbital space travel, with orbital travel and space hotels beckoning. But is there enough consumer demand to support commercial space flight?
Maybe. A 2002 study by the management consultancy Futron, of Bethesda, Maryland, boldly predicts that no less than 12,000 people a year will be taking sub-orbital tourist flights…
