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| Wealthy Chinese Travelers Lining Up to Blast Off | Wealthy Chinese Travelers Lining Up to Blast Off |
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| One night in June, Sheng Tianxing made good on his name, which translated literally means “sky travel.” With a single click online, he paid $100,000, about a third of his annual income, for a seat on a rocket that will carry him into space. | |
| Come 2016, if all goes as planned, Mr. Sheng, 41, a tea trader from the southeastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, will spend up to six minutes floating 64 miles above the Earth as one of the first civilians aboard a commercially operated flight beyond the planet’s atmosphere. | Come 2016, if all goes as planned, Mr. Sheng, 41, a tea trader from the southeastern Chinese province of Zhejiang, will spend up to six minutes floating 64 miles above the Earth as one of the first civilians aboard a commercially operated flight beyond the planet’s atmosphere. |
| “I’ve always wanted to go into space,” he said recently, recalling that he got hooked on space films and science fiction as a boy growing up in a mountain village. “I’ve always wondered if Armstrong did actually walk on the moon. I’d like to have a look myself.” | “I’ve always wanted to go into space,” he said recently, recalling that he got hooked on space films and science fiction as a boy growing up in a mountain village. “I’ve always wondered if Armstrong did actually walk on the moon. I’d like to have a look myself.” |
| A half-century ago, bemoaning his nation’s backwardness, Mao Zedong said that China could not launch a potato into space. Now, well-to-do Chinese business people are lining up for one-hour voyages to the cosmos, and tour operators say China is set to become the world’s largest market for the incipient space tourism industry. | A half-century ago, bemoaning his nation’s backwardness, Mao Zedong said that China could not launch a potato into space. Now, well-to-do Chinese business people are lining up for one-hour voyages to the cosmos, and tour operators say China is set to become the world’s largest market for the incipient space tourism industry. |
| Already, more than 30 mainland Chinese have purchased or made down payments of 50 percent on tickets for journeys offered by XCOR Aerospace, a company based in Mojave, Calif., that plans to begin operating suborbital flights late next year. The tours went on sale in China in December, two years after the company began selling them elsewhere, and one in 10 of all bookings have been by Chinese citizens, according to Dexo Travel, the Beijing-based sales agent in China for the trips. | Already, more than 30 mainland Chinese have purchased or made down payments of 50 percent on tickets for journeys offered by XCOR Aerospace, a company based in Mojave, Calif., that plans to begin operating suborbital flights late next year. The tours went on sale in China in December, two years after the company began selling them elsewhere, and one in 10 of all bookings have been by Chinese citizens, according to Dexo Travel, the Beijing-based sales agent in China for the trips. |
| The sales reflect late-blooming interest in space travel in China, which celebrated the successful landing of a lunar rover in December, four decades after the United States accomplished the same feat. The notion of traveling amid the stars has captivated a segment of the Chinese public just as it once fascinated Americans who were riveted by Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. But unlike that earlier generation, the Chinese have the option of booking a trip themselves — and many have the money to pay for it. | The sales reflect late-blooming interest in space travel in China, which celebrated the successful landing of a lunar rover in December, four decades after the United States accomplished the same feat. The notion of traveling amid the stars has captivated a segment of the Chinese public just as it once fascinated Americans who were riveted by Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon. But unlike that earlier generation, the Chinese have the option of booking a trip themselves — and many have the money to pay for it. |
| “There are wealthy people everywhere in the world, but there are not so many wealthy people who also dream of going into space,” said Alex Tang, chief executive of XCOR Aerospace’s Asia operation. China, he said, had both. In a survey this year of more than 200 Chinese luxury travelers by the Shanghai-based research firm Hurun, about 7 percent said they hoped to visit space within the next three years. | “There are wealthy people everywhere in the world, but there are not so many wealthy people who also dream of going into space,” said Alex Tang, chief executive of XCOR Aerospace’s Asia operation. China, he said, had both. In a survey this year of more than 200 Chinese luxury travelers by the Shanghai-based research firm Hurun, about 7 percent said they hoped to visit space within the next three years. |
| Mr. Tang attributed the Chinese passion for space travel to the recent successes of the nation’s space program. “Many want to go to space like Yang Liwei,” he said, referring to the astronaut who circled the Earth in 2003 and came home a national hero for bringing China into the ranks of space-faring nations. | Mr. Tang attributed the Chinese passion for space travel to the recent successes of the nation’s space program. “Many want to go to space like Yang Liwei,” he said, referring to the astronaut who circled the Earth in 2003 and came home a national hero for bringing China into the ranks of space-faring nations. |
| Zhang Yong, chief executive of Dexo Travel, described the people booking seats as business executives and entrepreneurs who already have luxury homes and cars and are turning their sights beyond earthly objects. Two-thirds are male, he said. Influenced by books and films like “Gravity,” a hit in China, they long for the transcendent experience of gazing upon Earth from space, Mr. Zhang said. | Zhang Yong, chief executive of Dexo Travel, described the people booking seats as business executives and entrepreneurs who already have luxury homes and cars and are turning their sights beyond earthly objects. Two-thirds are male, he said. Influenced by books and films like “Gravity,” a hit in China, they long for the transcendent experience of gazing upon Earth from space, Mr. Zhang said. |
| Interest in the spaceflights is high even among those without the means to go. Some would-be space tourists have become minor celebrities long before the first liftoff. | Interest in the spaceflights is high even among those without the means to go. Some would-be space tourists have become minor celebrities long before the first liftoff. |
| After Tong Jingling, a 40-year-old banker, booked a ticket in April, she started getting invitations from businesses to be their spokeswoman, she said. One company asked her to conduct medical experiments while in space. | After Tong Jingling, a 40-year-old banker, booked a ticket in April, she started getting invitations from businesses to be their spokeswoman, she said. One company asked her to conduct medical experiments while in space. |
| Ms. Tong, a graduate of Beihang University, formerly known as the Beijing Institute of Aeronautics, has capitalized on the attention by trying to launch several crowd-funded ventures. One would arrange weddings in space. Another would produce a reality television show in which contestants compete for a ticket for space travel. An investment of 100 renminbi, or $16, gets you a T-shirt that says, wo yao shang taikong (我要上太空), or “I want to go up into space.” | |
| The Chinese are coming a bit late to space tourism. The first civilian space tour was in 2001, when the American billionaire Dennis Tito joined a Russian space mission and flew to the International Space Station. He spent $20 million and underwent months of training. Since then, six other civilians have made the same trip. | The Chinese are coming a bit late to space tourism. The first civilian space tour was in 2001, when the American billionaire Dennis Tito joined a Russian space mission and flew to the International Space Station. He spent $20 million and underwent months of training. Since then, six other civilians have made the same trip. |
| But companies are now selling suborbital trips to altitudes just beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, at prices that put the dream of space travel within the reach of wealthy Chinese. After long delays caused by technical and safety issues, XCOR Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, founded by the British entrepreneur Richard Branson, say they are planning flights next year. | But companies are now selling suborbital trips to altitudes just beyond the Earth’s atmosphere, at prices that put the dream of space travel within the reach of wealthy Chinese. After long delays caused by technical and safety issues, XCOR Aerospace and Virgin Galactic, founded by the British entrepreneur Richard Branson, say they are planning flights next year. |
| Because Virgin Galactic spacecraft are powered by rocket engines manufactured in the United States that use technology considered to have potential military applications, citizens from 22 countries, including China, are barred from traveling on them, the company has said. Virgin Galactic said it hoped that future United States government rulings would enable it to offer spaceflights to an expanded roster of nations. | Because Virgin Galactic spacecraft are powered by rocket engines manufactured in the United States that use technology considered to have potential military applications, citizens from 22 countries, including China, are barred from traveling on them, the company has said. Virgin Galactic said it hoped that future United States government rulings would enable it to offer spaceflights to an expanded roster of nations. |
| XCOR Aerospace’s Lynx shuttle uses different engines that do not appear to raise the same concerns. A $95,000 ticket with XCOR buys a flight late next year to an altitude of about 38 miles — what the company calls “the edge of space” — while a $100,000 ticket will take a passenger beyond the atmosphere in 2016. Each flight carries one passenger, who must undergo medical screening and training. | XCOR Aerospace’s Lynx shuttle uses different engines that do not appear to raise the same concerns. A $95,000 ticket with XCOR buys a flight late next year to an altitude of about 38 miles — what the company calls “the edge of space” — while a $100,000 ticket will take a passenger beyond the atmosphere in 2016. Each flight carries one passenger, who must undergo medical screening and training. |
| Mr. Zhang said he expects Chinese interest in space tourism to increase further once the first civilian flights are underway. “Many from business circles and celebrities have told me that they’ll buy tickets once the test flights succeed or the first tourists return safely,” he said. | Mr. Zhang said he expects Chinese interest in space tourism to increase further once the first civilian flights are underway. “Many from business circles and celebrities have told me that they’ll buy tickets once the test flights succeed or the first tourists return safely,” he said. |
| Several Chinese who have booked seats said they had confidence in the safety of the shuttle technology, though some had not told their families of their plans. | Several Chinese who have booked seats said they had confidence in the safety of the shuttle technology, though some had not told their families of their plans. |
| Zhang Xiaoyu, 29, an entrepreneur in Beijing, said he told his parents only that he planned to fly at a “relatively high altitude.” He did not tell them how much the ticket cost, either. But Mr. Zhang said traveling to space meant more to him than putting a down payment on an apartment or buying a car in the congested Chinese capital. | Zhang Xiaoyu, 29, an entrepreneur in Beijing, said he told his parents only that he planned to fly at a “relatively high altitude.” He did not tell them how much the ticket cost, either. But Mr. Zhang said traveling to space meant more to him than putting a down payment on an apartment or buying a car in the congested Chinese capital. |
| “You will be able to look back at the planet where you were born and experience complete solitude,” he said. “You wouldn’t be able to experience this anywhere else.” | “You will be able to look back at the planet where you were born and experience complete solitude,” he said. “You wouldn’t be able to experience this anywhere else.” |