• Fabian Eilingsfeld
• Sven Abitzsch

This paper discusses the long-range perspectives for commercial passenger transportation into Low Earth Orbit (LEO): a European Space Tourism Initiative. Southern Spain is introduced as a potential location for Spaceport Europe' from which commercial space trips would be conducted. Based on a market model for a thirty-year time span (2020 to 2050), three different market growth scenarios are developed (no growth; low growth; high growth). These concepts introduce a launch vehicle design which comprises the best features of current European launch vehicle projects (eg SÄNGER, STS-2000) that promise a significant reduction in recurring costs. Technological variables of the transportation system and the infrastructure as well as transportation demand trends have been used as input for an integrated operations and cost model. Computer simulation of passenger transport within the given time span produced cost trends which promise specific transportation costs of as low as $60,000 (1990 values) per seat. Admittedly, such cost figures require very high passenger numbers that might be beyond any real demand.