Based in Vienna, Virginia, Space Adventures
helped arrange the flight of the world’s first
space tourist, Dennis Tito, founder and chairman
of Wilshire Associates in California. He flew to
the space station on a Russian capsule in 2001,
igniting the wrath of top NASA officials who
opposed visiting tourists.
The company has arranged eight space
missions, with one tourist going twice.
Space Adventures’ goal is to create “unique and
previously impossible opportunities for private
citizens to experience space,” Eric Anderson,
company chairman, said in a statement.
NASA has softened its stance on space tourists,
and is opening the station doors to paying
customers once commercial crew flights by
SpaceX and Boeing have been established.