Space tourism promoter expects lift-off this year

WASHINGTON - US regulators say they will soon decide whether to license the first commercial vehicles for space tourism, and a leading proponent of the initiative expects a test flight to be approved for this year.

Federal Aviation Administration approval is a crucial step in a US$10 million ($14.4 million) privately funded competition for the first generation of reusable commercial vehicles for space tourism.

The US Government, through Nasa, has been sending astronauts into orbit for four decades.

Although enterprising companies have taken reservations for space tourism for years, bureaucracy and lack of affordable technology have blocked commercial travel.

The X Prize programme was developed in 1996 to jump-start the concept and has attracted globally renowned experts on aviation and spaceflight.

The US$10 million will go to the first team that can reach the edge of space - about 105km up - return safely and repeat the flight within two weeks.

Twenty-seven teams from around the world are in the competition, but only two proposals - both US-based - are advanced enough to seek licensing now.

Diane Murphy, an executive with the non-profit X Prize Foundation, said the group expected a winning flight this year. But she cautioned that commercial success was a separate issue.

- REUTERS