• Olly Barrett

The purpose of this research is to provide an evaluation of the potential demand for space tourism within the United Kingdom (U.K).

To promote further research and development into space tourism, there exists the necessity to estimate the global potential demand for space tourism. In an attempt to begin this estimation, two key surveys were conducted in Japan and North America. Following these studies, the request for further surveys within Europe stimulated the initiation of this research within the U.K.

The resultant data arising from this research demonstrates that a significant potential demand for space tourism does exist. Overall, 34.7 % of all respondents stated the desire to undertake a space trip, with a further 23.6 % undecided. Further analysis promote the assumption that the combination of these two percentages represent more accurately the current latent demand for space tourism within the U.K.

Investigation of the influences on demand established that the majority (40 %) of respondents were only prepared to spend £700 to travel into space. However, almost 12 % (which represents 3 ½ million people) would pay £8,500, the equivalence of the predicted cost for a mass space tourism ticket. This research also supports the notion that the common desire is to stay in space for prolonged periods of time, with viewing Earth as the key motivation to do so.

The extent to which Britain may contribute to the future global space tourism industry still remains uncertain. As space tourism exists only a contemporary concept, the respondents possessed very limited knowledge. Therefore, as interest and information becomes more prevalent, it is suggested that the overall level of demand will increase. To further evaluate the potential U.K space tourism market, additional surveys are essential in order to clarify the findings from this research.