Can You Book a Trip to Space? An Honest Guide for 2026
Curated by Our Guild Explorers · Checked 4 October 2026
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Every week someone asks us whether they can book a seat to space the way they book a cruise. The honest answer, as of October 2026: not this year. Nobody is flying paying passengers at the moment — but several companies are taking deposits for 2027, the first private space station is being built, and the one part of the adventure you can book tonight is a hotel room near the launch pad. Here is who is doing what, what it costs, whether there are rooms in space, and how to see a rocket go up with your own eyes.
The Short Answer
Where space tourism stands on 4 October 2026.
Nobody is flying tourists today — several plan to again in 2027
The two companies that flew paying passengers to the edge of space have both stopped for now: Blue Origin paused its New Shepard rocket in January 2026 for at least two years, and Virgin Galactic is testing a new spaceplane and expects to fly passengers again in early 2027. Orbital trips to the International Space Station are planned for 2027 at tens of millions of dollars a seat. The balloon companies that promised a gentler ride to the stratosphere have not yet flown a paying passenger. None of these companies sells through travel sites, so Destinations Guild cannot book a seat for you — and anyone who says they can, outside the companies themselves, deserves a careful look.
Rides to the Edge of Space
A few minutes of weightlessness and the curve of the Earth, about 50 to 66 miles up, then straight home.
Virgin Galactic — Spaceport America, New Mexico
Virgin Galactic's spaceplane is carried aloft under a mothership and released, then rockets up to the edge of space before gliding back to the runway. The company retired its earlier ship and is building a larger Delta-class craft for six passengers. In March 2026 it reopened sales at $750,000 a seat; that batch sold out, and it has said the next seats will cost more. Its first passenger flight on the new ship has slipped to about February 2027. Roughly 650 to 675 earlier ticket holders are already in the queue.
Blue Origin — West Texas
Blue Origin's New Shepard capsule flew 38 missions and carried 98 people before its last flight on 22 January 2026. On 30 January the company announced it was pausing the program for no less than two years to put its people on its moon work. It never published a fixed ticket price.
Deep Blue Aerospace — China
A Chinese start-up that began selling a handful of suborbital seats for flights it plans to begin in 2027. Its rocket has not yet flown people, so treat any date as a hope rather than a schedule.
Balloon Rides to the Stratosphere
No rocket, no g-forces: a pressurised cabin under a huge balloon, about 20 miles up, for a few hours at the black edge of the sky.
The honest picture
Space Perspective, the Florida company that sold seats at $125,000 and attracted the most attention, ran out of money in early 2025 and stopped operating; in July 2025 it was bought by the Spanish company EOS-X Space, which has its own balloon plans but has not resumed flights. Zephalto, in France, is selling a luxury stratospheric flight through travel partners but has not yet flown paying passengers. If a balloon ride appeals, ask any company for its record of crewed test flights before you pay a deposit.
Orbit and the Space Station
The real thing: days or weeks circling the Earth every ninety minutes — and priced accordingly.
Axiom Space — to the International Space Station
Houston-based Axiom has flown four private crews to the International Space Station. NASA awarded it a fifth mission in January 2026, planned for no earlier than January 2027: a professional commander and three private astronauts, about two weeks aboard. Seats have mostly gone to governments and research sponsors rather than holidaymakers, and every crew member goes through months of training.
Vast — to the ISS, then to its own station
Vast, of Long Beach, California, won NASA's sixth private mission to the International Space Station in February 2026 — a 14-day trip planned for summer 2027 — and is building its own small station, Haven-1 (see Rooms in Space, below).
SpaceX — a whole capsule of your own
SpaceX will fly a fully private Crew Dragon mission for a group that buys the whole capsule, as it did for Inspiration4 in 2021 and Fram2 in 2025. There is no public seat price; these are arranged directly with the company.
Are There Rooms in Space?
Not hotel rooms yet — but the first private station is being built.
The International Space Station
There are no guest rooms on the ISS. Private astronauts sleep in a small sleeping bag tethered to a wall in one of the crew quarters or a quiet corner of a module, share the professional crew's galley and bathroom, and stay about two weeks. NASA plans to retire the station around 2030.
Vast Haven-1 — the first private space station
Haven-1 is a single module about the size of a large motorhome, with four private crew quarters, a large window and a common area. Its first crew of four is planned to arrive aboard a SpaceX Dragon no earlier than 2027 and stay up to 30 days. It is the closest thing yet to a room of your own in orbit.
After that
Axiom is building its own station, starting with modules that will first attach to the ISS. Starlab (a Voyager and Airbus venture) and Blue Origin's Orbital Reef are planned to replace the ISS as commercial stations. All are years away from taking guests, and dates in this business move to the right far more often than to the left.
Book the Trip You Can Take: Watch It Happen
No training, no waiting list: two places on Earth where you can stand where the rockets fly from.
Kennedy Space Center & the Space Coast, Florida
The busiest launch coast in the world. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex has the real Space Shuttle Atlantis, a Saturn V moon rocket in the Apollo/Saturn V Center, the Rocket Garden and a bus tour out toward the launch pads; a one-day ticket is about $77 for adults and $67 for children 3–11, with $15 parking (check kennedyspacecenter.com before you go). Rockets now launch from the Cape most weeks. Stay in Titusville for the closest view across the Indian River to the pads; Cocoa Beach for a beach holiday with launches overhead; or Cape Canaveral beside the cruise port. Launch dates slip often — book a refundable rate and allow a spare day.
Sailing from Port Canaveral too? Our Port Canaveral guide covers the Space Center on a pre-cruise day.
Spaceport America, New Mexico
The world's first purpose-built commercial spaceport sits alone on the desert floor of southern New Mexico, where Virgin Galactic will fly from again. You cannot drive in on your own; guided bus tours leave from the Geronimo Trail Visitor Center at 523 Broadway in Truth or Consequences, have run on Saturdays, take about three and a half to four hours, and must be reserved in advance with Spaceport America (tours can change or cancel for mission needs). Make a weekend of it: Truth or Consequences is a small hot-springs town, and soaking in the mineral baths the night before is half the pleasure.
Frequently Asked Questions
What readers ask us most about going to space.
Can I book a seat to space through Destinations Guild?
No. Space companies sell their seats directly, usually after an application, a deposit and a medical review, and none of them works through travel sites. What we can book is the trip to see a launch — the hotels near Kennedy Space Center and Spaceport America above.
What is the cheapest way to go to space?
For now, a suborbital ride. The lowest advertised price is Deep Blue Aerospace's, about $211,000, for flights it hopes to begin in 2027; Virgin Galactic's last seats sold at $750,000. Balloon rides were once advertised at around $125,000 but none is flying passengers today.
Do I need to be an astronaut, or very fit?
Not for a suborbital ride: passengers have ranged from teenagers to people in their nineties, after a short course of training and a medical check. Orbital trips to a space station demand months of training and a much stricter medical review.
Are there hotels in space?
Not yet. The International Space Station has no guest rooms, and the first private station, Vast's Haven-1, with four private crew quarters, is planned for 2027. True space hotels remain a late-2020s idea at the earliest.
Can I watch a rocket launch?
Yes — and it is free from many public places along Florida's Space Coast, or ticketed from viewing areas run by the Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex. Launch dates and times change often, sometimes on the day; build a spare day into the trip and choose a refundable room.
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