Commercial Space Industry

1. Commercial space travel first started when Yuri Gagarin (a soviet cosmonaut) became the first human to be launched into space in 1961. Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon in 1969. In 1981, the U.S launched its first  space shuttle which was called Columbia. The International Space Station was established in 1998. Finally, in 2004, Sir Richard Branson launched Virgin Galactic and started accepting reservations for suborbital flights ("Exploration Timeline" n.d).
 Space travel has not been an entirely safe industry. There have been several notable incidents that caused the death of astronauts.  In 1986, Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated after take off. Seven crew members were killed. Upon re-entry, Space Shuttle Columbia crashed over Texas while heading to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Seven crew members were also killed in this accident. During a test flight in 2014, SpaceShipTwo (being developed for Virgin Galactic) broke up inflight. One crew member was killed and another parachuted to safety ("Deaths Associated With US Space Programs" n.d).

2. According to the FAA, The Commercial Space Launch Act of 1984 "authorizes the Department of Transportation (DOT) and, through delegations, the Federal Aviation Administration's (FAA) Office of Commercial Space Transportation (AST), to oversee, authorize, and regulate both launches and reentries of launch and reentry vehicles, and the operation of launch and reentry sites when carried out by U.S. citizens or within the United States. The Act directs the FAA to exercise this responsibility consistent with public health and safety, safety of property, and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States. The Act also directs the FAA to encourage, facilitate, and promote commercial space launches and reentries by the private sector, including those involving space flight participants." ("Office of Commercial Space Transportation" n.d). This most likely developed to regulate increased interest in space travel and just to show that the FAA is "involved". I do feel that the rules are lenient and I do not think that they need to be amended as of yet. Private space travel is its infancy and it is very costly to develop. Because it is so cost prohibitive, not many people are going to jump on it. This is unlike what occurred when aviation first started to boom in the early 1900s.  As of now, I do not think it would be a wise decision for the U.S government to invest more in commercial space travel; There are more important things that need attention and investment. Unless we are going to learn something that will help the world from commercial space travel, I do not think that the government should spend time, money, and effort into further regulations. 

3. I would not be surprised if space tourism did not greatly develop in the next 20 years. Space tourism is a very costly industry. The cost of a ticket on Virgin Galactic is $250,000. No exact timeline has been specified for when the first commercial space flight will occur. Because of this, I do not think that there will be enough demand to drive up competition and lower down costs. I feel that this will be a privilege for the extremely wealthy people of the world. There is no added benefit from space tourism. It will not decrease the travel time between two cities. It will not bring cities around the world closer together. Unlike commercial flight, space travel will be one-time bucket list adventure. We have not further developed supersonic commercial travel because of lack of demand. Therefore, I do not see space tourism more than a one-time fad. 

4. While there are many areas that require many qualifications for space tourism, I feel that anyone may be able to tap into the industry (If they are lucky enough). From a management perspective, I see space tourism developers requiring test subjects to assess the impact of space travel on the human body. Nasa has paid $18000 for test subjects to lie in a bed for 3 months while they do different experiments and research (Iwanicki, 2014). It may be similar in the development aspect of the space tourism industry. 

References:

Exploration Timeline. National Geographic. 
     Retrieved From: http://www.nationalgeographic.com/125/timelines/space-exploration/

Deaths Associated With US Space Programs. AirSafe.com
     Retrieved From: http://www.airsafe.com/events/space/astrofat.htm

Office of Commercial Space Transportation. Federal Aviation Administration.
    Retrieved From: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/ast/regulations/

Fly With Us. Virgin Galactic 
     Retrieved From: http://www.virgingalactic.com/human-spaceflight/fly-with-us/

Iwanicki, A (2014). Nasa is Paying mE $18000 to Lie in a Bed for Three Months. Vice
     Retrieved From: https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/nasa-patient-8179-100