Flight Daily News

EADS Astrium has entered the space tourism race with plans for a reusable space plane capable of sub-orbital 60-mile (100km) high flights.

The business-jet sized craft, which was unveiled at a special VIP event in Paris last week, will take off from an as yet unspecified normal airport and give passengers three-to-five minutes of weightlessness when it achieves maximum altitude.

During the one-and-a-half hour flight normal jet engines will be used to take off and climb to 12km, before a rocket engine powered by liquid methane and liquid oxygen will take over, giving passengers a near-vertical wild ride, taking them beyond 60km in 80 seconds.

The engine will then shut down, but the craft will have enough momentum to continue to the edge of space. After slowing down during descent, the jet engines will be restarted for a normal landing at a standard airfield.

EADS Astrium says there will be room for four passengers on each mission, who will be able to float in the Marc Newson-designed cabin and look out through large windows. The company plans to build five craft with a predicted one flight per craft per week flight plan to allow for refurbishment.