Astrium's stunning "spacejet" (continued)

September 2007

Not everyone wants to be kitted out and sat at the top of an explosive rocket or dropped from the underbelly of a "mother ship", which is what is on offer at present for space tourists.

The French like things simple and climbing aboard a jet aircraft - as though you were jetting off to London - is the Holy Grail of space travel for most people.

The Astrium space jet will take off and land conventionally from a standard airport using its jet engines.

However, once the craft is airborne at an altitude of about 12 kilometers, the rocket engines will be ignited to give sufficient acceleration to reach 100 km.

In just 80 seconds the craft will have climbed to a 60 km altitude. Innovative seats balance themselves to minimize the effects of acceleration and deceleration, ensuring passenger comfort and safety.

The rocket propulsion system is then shut down as the ship’s inertia carries it on to above 100 km, where the four paying passengers will experience zero gravity in space.

Once in space, passengers can unbuckle their seatbelts and experience about three minutes of weightlessness.

The pilot will control the craft using small rocket thrusters to make this experience more enjoyable.

They'll be free to float around the cabin of the plane and gaze through any of the jet's 15 windows and glimpse a spectacular view of the Earth.

Then, it's time to go home.

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