China's wealthy enthusiasts book tickets for space travel

More than 300 space enthusiasts, including entrepreneurs, in China have shelled out nearly USD 100,000 individually to book tickets offered by a Dutch company for a five-minute private trip to outer space.
Space Expedition Corp, known as SXC, opened bookings for the trip yesterday and within minutes of the tickets going on sale, the 305 buyers purchased them, according to Taobao, an online retail website offering the tickets.
Tickets for outer space are selling hot on the Internet, state-run China Daily reported today.
Four entrepreneurs from Chengdu in southwest China and two from east China's Shanghai are among those who signed up for the space travel, the report said.

"It is exciting that Chinese can enjoy space travel with a click of a mouse. Hopefully, it will usher in a new chapter for Chinese to explore outer space," said Zhang Yong, chief executive officer of Dexo Travel, a domestic travel agent that acted as the sole broker for SXC's business in China.
According to SXC, the spaceship can carry only one astronaut and one tourist, who sits in the co-pilot seat.

The craft remains in space for five to six minutes, when the tourist can enjoy a rarely seen view and experience weightlessness.
With a benchmark price of 599,999 yuan (USD 96,500) the Pioneer Astronaut programme allows travellers to fly 61 km into space on a Lynx Mark I that is expected to start flying in the fourth quarter of 2015.

Buyers can also sign up for premium travel packages such as the Founder Astronaut trip for 1.39 million yuan, or pay 629,999 yuan for the Future Astronaut programme.
Both flights start in 2016 and include a ride on a Lynx Mark II that will take their occupants 103 km above the ground. However, no date for the trip was given.
Fees include space travel, as well as a round trip from China to the Mojave Civilian Aerospace Test Centre in the United States for the launch, the daily reported.
Prospective travellers - who must be less than two metres tall and weigh under 125 kg - will be required to receive a week of astronaut training. They must also be over 18 years and pass compulsory physical exams before the adventure.

China has invested heavily in its own military-run space programme, which has previously sent astronauts into orbit and also landed a rover on the moon. But so far the country has has no commercial space firms.