11. How expensive will the whole trip to the edge of space be? Will there be a cost per space traveler per day in space? (A K2S Question)
From The Space Library
The trip to the edge of space is starting to look more practical all the time. There are now several companies that are working hard to make such a trip much more affordable than it is today. By the year 2010, or maybe even sooner, you may be able to get to the edge of space—a so-called sub-orbital trip—for between $100,000 and $250,000. The trip to the low Earth orbit will probably be much more expensive for a long time. Although there are many people trying to get the price down below a million dollars, it doesn't look likely any time soon. Most of the expense in flying in space is the launch into orbit. It seems likely that for short duration flights of one or two weeks, the launch and launch preparation costs are pretty much all you'll have to pay. But one company, Bigelow Aerospace, is trying to build a hotel in low Earth orbit. If they're successful, by 2020 you'll not only be able to fly to space, you'll be able to stay there for a long time.
Answer provided by Ben Reytblat
Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer
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