Race between the superpowers

VHO - Flying into space is a popular experience, with the advantage of making people's "dream of reaching the stars" come true. In that context, many countries are exploiting the space tourism model, helping passengers have special and rare experiences in life.

All-female crew before flight to reach the dream of “touching the sky”

Around the world , since American billionaire Denis Tito became the first tourist to fly into space and visit the International Space Station (ISS) in 2001, the space tourism industry has begun to move and has rapidly made great strides.

China is actively developing its space tourism industry, with several companies announcing plans to send tourists into space. Deep Blue Aerospace plans to begin commercial flights in 2027, with tickets costing around $125,000 for a six-hour flight.

Guangzhou-based CAS Space has similar plans, with plans to launch space tourism flights in 2028, with ticket prices ranging from 2-3 million yuan ($415,127) per person for a trip.

Meanwhile, many private US companies are betting on space tourism to make the passion not too far away for ordinary people. Even NASA has changed its view on this field when announcing plans to open the International Space Station (ISS) for tourists.

Currently, three aerospace companies, Blue Origin of billionaire Jeff Bezos, Virgin Galactic of British billionaire Richard Branson and SpaceX of billionaire Elon Musk, are fiercely competing in the race to conquer space with a potential market value of about 3 billion USD per year by 2030.

The US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has predicted that space tourism will become a “billion-dollar” industry, despite the fact that this is a business that requires a large investment of funds and is quite risky and dangerous.

In the future, space tourism will help create a competitive space economy , just like mass tourism, with airfares having fallen dramatically over the past six decades. And now, space tourism prices are becoming more competitive, making it accessible to more people.

A representative of the American company Space Perspective confirmed that a trip into space is no longer just for billionaires, but for everyone. Guests booking a seat on the company's Spaceship Neptune will have the opportunity to go to the edge of space so that visitors can see the curve of the Earth. The flight lasts 6 hours and costs 125,000 USD (3 billion VND).

SpaceX, Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, and a few others are also exploring trips, with the goal of making space accessible to humans in the simplest and most convenient way. So, what is the cheapest cost for a space journey? According to professional astronauts, $50,000 or even $500,000 are all very good prices for any space journey.

“The trip will change the lives of passengers forever. It is a scene that does not simply capture the emotions you get in a movie theater. What passengers experience is hard to put into words, and the experience will stay with them forever, especially the connection to our beloved Earth and the overwhelming, ecstatic beauty of the universe,” said astronaut Scott Parazynski.

On April 14, 2025, billionaire Jeff Bezos’ New Shepard reusable rocket-ship complex launched an all-female crew into space and returned safely to Earth. This was the first all-female spaceflight since June 16, 1963.

Notably, the space trip included Amanda Nguyen, a Vietnamese-American and founder and CEO of the non-governmental organization Rise. Astronaut Amanda Nguyen brought 169 lotus seeds with her on her journey to conquer space. During the moment of floating in space, Amanda Nguyen said “Hello Vietnam” and smiled.

The image of Vietnamese people conquering the universe in the vast space and shouting the two words “Vietnam” has left an immense admiration and pride for the country. It is the feeling of overcoming oneself to reach the dream of “touching the sky”.

Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/du-lich/cuoc-dua-giua-nhung-cuong-quoc-145122.html