New Space Tourism Sustainability as an Evolving Concept

Abstract

The recent emergence of the tourism sector in the New Space industry, that provides commercial alternatives to publicly funded “Old Space” operations, fits within other societal trends enhanced by technological developments. There are several possible forms of space tourism and, within each, a growing number of competing space tourism ventures will emerge over time. However, whilst the New Space tourism industry is to provide a tourist with new travel experiences, international climate reports urge for more sustainable operations in all global industries. Therefore, climate change preventing solutions must be sought to decrease any unnecessary impacts caused by this new adventure sector of tourism from the beginning. As there are different variables to consider in the formation of future New Space tourism operations and strategies, this paper also illustrates a new framework of “Societal ethics in space tourism”, involving concepts attached to New Space tourism sustainability; environmental actions, global space regulations, cyberspace tourism, and Generation Z values.