KATY PERRY, ALL-FEMALE CREW GO TO SPACE: IS SPACE TOURISM WORTH IT?

THE CONTEXT: On 14 April 2025, Blue Origin’s NS‑31 mission flew an all-women, six-member crew—pop star Katy Perry among them—beyond the 100 km Kármán line and back in ≈ 11 minutes. With global market value rising from US $0.85 bn (2023) to US $1.3 bn (2024) and projected US $6.7 bn by 2030 (CAGR 31.6 %), “NewSpace” tourism epitomises the shift from state‐centric exploration to commercial-led ‘democratisation’ of space.

UNDERSTANDING SPACE TOURISM:

• • Definition: Space tourism refers to space travel conducted for recreational, leisure, or business purposes by private individuals.
  • Types:
    • Sub-Orbital Tourism: Brief flights just beyond the Kármán line (~100 km above Earth).
    • Orbital Tourism: Extended missions at much higher altitudes involving several days in space.

CONCEPTUAL CLARIFICATION & TYPOLOGY

Dimension	Sub Orbital Tourism	Orbital Tourism
Altitude	80 110 km (edge of space)	300 400 km (LEO)
Duration	Minutes of micro gravity	Days–Weeks in orbit/ISS
Vehicles	Blue Origin New Shepard, Virgin Galactic SS2	SpaceX Crew Dragon, Axiom modules
Ticket (2025)	Virgin Galactic: ~US $ 450k	SpaceX Ax 2: est. US $ 55 m+

DRIVERS & PROMISED BENEFITS

1. STEM inspiration & gender mainstreaming – visibility of all‑women crews challenges the ‘Right Stuff’ stereotype.

2. Spill‑over R&D – reusable stages, 3‑D printed engines (e.g., Agnikul in India) can feed defence & satellite markets.

3. Economic diversification – OECD projects space economy to touch US $ 1 tn by 2040; tourism is a fast‑growing niche.

4. Human‑in‑the‑loop science – micro‑g experiments on pharma crystal growth, plant biology.

INTERNATIONAL & INDIAN POLICY LANDSCAPE

• • Global:
    • Outer Space Treaty 1967 – Res communis; Liability Convention 1972.
    • FAA/AST (USA) issues launch licences; ‘learning period’ waiver extended to 2028.
    • Emerging Artemis Accords: voluntary norms for civil, not tourist, missions.
  • India:
    • Indian Space Policy 2023 recognises “space tourism as a long‑term goal”; IN‑SPACe is single‑window regulator.
    • Space Activities Bill (awaiting Parliament) — mandates third‑party liability insurance, operator licences.
    • Start‑ups (Skyroot, Agnikul) developing reusable methane engines (lower soot) ‑ aligns with LiFE mission.

CRITICAL CONCERNS

1. Socio-Economic Accessibility

• • Exorbitant Costs:
    • Virgin Galactic: ~$450,000 per seat.
    • Blue Origin: $150,000 deposit, full cost undisclosed.
  • Equity Dilemma: Exclusivity for the ultra-rich undermines the narrative of inclusive space progress.
  • Ethical Backlash: Critics like Olivia Munn label such ventures as extravagant amidst pressing global issues.

 

2. Questionable Innovation Value

• • Scientific Justification:
    • Claims of conducting microgravity experiments lack substance.
    • No significant breakthrough innovations attributable to space tourism missions.
  • Limited Technological Spillovers:
    • Private innovations have little relevance to deep-space exploration or scientific applications.

 

3. Environmental Impact

• • Atmospheric Pollution:
    • Nitrogen oxides from rocket launches deplete the ozone layer.
    • Soot emissions warm the atmosphere more effectively than other pollutants.
  • Scientific Evidence:
    • 2022 study (UCL, MIT, Cambridge) links space tourism launches with serious climatic impacts.

 

4. Ethical Dimensions

• • Environmental Ethics: Contradiction between space leisure and climate justice.
  • Opportunity Cost: Diversion of capital from urgent needs like poverty alleviation, renewable energy, or global health.
  • Public vs Private Good: Raises questions about the commodification of space—a domain traditionally seen as a “common heritage of mankind.”

 

5. Policy and Regulatory Gaps

• • Absence of Global Framework:
    • No binding international regulations on private space tourism emissions.
  • Need for National Guidelines:
    • India must anticipate space tourism’s entry and establish ethical, environmental, and fiscal frameworks.

THE WAY FORWARD:

• • Comprehensive Regulatory Code for Space Tourism: India must fast-track the enactment of the long-pending Space Activities Act with dedicated clauses for tourist safety, rocket emissions standards, and orbital debris mitigation. A regulatory body akin to the DGCA, under the Department of Space, should oversee licensing, safety audits, and environmental compliance.
    This aligns with India’s international commitments under the UNCOPUOS and Paris Agreement.
  • Green Propulsion and Indigenous Innovation Push: Promote R&D in green propellants like LOX-Methane and biofuels via ISRO–start-up collaborations under the IN-SPACe framework.
    Encourage dual-use innovation in synergy with India’s National Green Hydrogen Mission and DRDO’s clean-tech labs. This will reduce the carbon intensity of launches and create scalable tech spillovers for both civil and strategic sectors.
  • Equity & Access through a Space Impact Redistribution Framework: Introduce a Space-Impact Fee (SIF) on tourism tickets to finance STEM scholarships and climate-adaptive Earth observation projects. Inspired by the Polluter Pays Principle, this would internalise the social cost of elite recreational launches.
  • International Carbon Accounting for Rocket Emissions: India should lead a diplomatic initiative at UNFCCC COP31 to include rocket launch emissions in Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). Develop a new metric—Launch Emission Intensity (LEI)—to benchmark emissions per space tourist across countries. This will reinforce India’s leadership under Mission LiFE and strengthen equity in global climate negotiations.
  • Public-Private-Citizen Science Synergy: Enable citizen scientists and students to design microgravity payloads through crowd-sourced platforms vetted by ISRO’s HSFC. Create participatory schemes like the ‘Science in Space’ Innovation Challenge for youth and start-ups.
  • Global Ethical & Cultural Governance of Space Tourism: India should propose a ‘Declaration on Sustainable Space Tourism’ under UNCOPUOS, drawing from the Antarctic Treaty and World Heritage principles. This framework would uphold space as the Common Heritage of Mankind while recognising commercial innovation within ethical boundaries.

THE CONCLUSION:

Space tourism embodies the duality of human aspiration and planetary responsibility. While it can foster technological self‑reliance (Atmanirbhar Bharat in Space), unchecked elitism and environmental externalities risk violating the “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam” ethos and SDG 13. A calibrated, “green‑inclusive‑regulated” approach will ensure that humanity’s leap for the stars does not trample on the Earth that sustains it.

UPSC PAST YEAR QUESTION:

Q. What is India’s plan to have its own space station and how will it benefit our space programme? 2019

MAINS PRACTICE QUESTION:

Q. Space tourism is no longer science fiction, but its ascent raises profound questions of equity, sustainability, and ethics. Discuss this statement in the context of India’s regulatory, environmental, and socio-economic preparedness for commercial spaceflight.

SOURCE:

https://indianexpress.com/article/explained/explained-sci-tech/katy-perry-space-tourism-9944010/

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