ESA is thinking about assisting space tourism

The European
Space Agency (ESA) is launching in the coming weeks a study aimed at European space tourism initiatives.

...ESA officials are also open to orbital concept proposals.

The survey work could lead to ESA awarding up to three contracts to flesh out space tourism concepts and associated business cases.

After it has looked over proposals received, ESA could award up to three contracts to three European firms to further refine their prospective space tourism plans. Closing date for proposal submission is September 22, Virginie Schmit, an ESA Contracts Officer, advised SPACE.com.


The hope is that this recent call for proposals has triggered private companies keen on public space travel to contact ESA with their plans, said David Vivanco, a technical assistant working on the initiative within the Directorate of Launchers’ Future Programs and Strategy Office at ESA Headquarters in Paris, France.


Evaluate the economics


The awarding of several contracts allows ESA to survey European companies involved in space tourism—from vehicle design to building the business case.


Selected companies will perform a mission definition study based on a credible design for a crew space vehicle, and a business case and financial plan whose objective is to evaluate the economic feasibility of the commercial venture.


Each selected company will receive 150,000 Euros (roughly $190,000) to develop their plans further. A team of experts from ESA’s Launchers Directorate, who are involved in the development of the technologies for the next generation launcher, will manage the studies, sharing their own expertise with the companies

A major motivation for the ESA space tourism study is to identify potential synergies in terms of technologies between the space tourism vehicle development industry and ESA’s technology programs, Vivanco said.

This €150,000 contract is part of ESA’s Survey of European Privately-Funded Vehicles for Commercial Human Space Flight, which was designed to identify European space tourism ventures, evaluate their feasibility, and assess their associated technologies

I hopw they next will also look to ARCA.