Khiri named Thai agent for space tourism venture

The cost per trip is approximately Bt4.2 million. Exclusively for the Thai market, the price includes the training mission to the Netherlands and the space journey from the Spaceport in either Curacao – a Dutch-controlled island in the Caribbean – or the US, business-class flights from Bangkok to both destinations, transfers, and deluxe accommodation for two people. Additional modules of pre-flight training, such as zero-gravity flights, are available, at extra cost, if the space traveller wants to subscribe to these.

SXC says space travel is no longer the exclusive domain of governments. It is now coming into reach for private individuals and organisations. SXC will facilitate space adventure travel for Thai nationals who book through Khiri Voyages, which has an introductory Thai-language website up at www.spacevoyages.asia ahead of Monday’s SXC press event.

After booking through Khiri Voyages, Thai space travellers will undergo training in the Netherlands, which includes a flight in an L-39 Albatross jet and the unique Desdemona simulator, which generates G-forces of up to 3.3G.

The space flight itself takes off using a horizontal runway either in the Mojave Desert in California or from Curacao in the southern Caribbean Sea. The XCOR Lynx Mark I or Mark II Space jet flies to 58.5 kilometres above Earth. The engines are then switched off. The aircraft’s momentum then propels it to 103km above Earth, where a state of weightlessness occurs. At the highest point passengers can float in the spacecraft and see the curvature of the Earth. The Lynx then returns to Earth with the space traveller experiencing 4G atmospheric re-entry forces along the way. The Lynx makes a horizontal landing. The entire trip takes approximately one hour.

Only one passenger flies in the Lynx with the pilot. When ready, passengers can choose to take off and land either in the Mojave Desert near Los Angeles or at Curacao. If from Curacao, the space passenger will be able to see the curvature of the Earth all the way from Cuba to Brazil.

“We already provide exclusive travel experiences such as Antarctica, deluxe safaris in Africa and trips to the Galapagos Islands for the Thai market,” said Willem Niemeijer, chief executive of the Khiri Travel Group, which includes Khiri Voyages, a specialist travel company offering unique global (and extra-global) travel to Thai nationals. “But space is truly the ultimate experience.”