Page 63 - Life beyond the Karman

As space tourism became a reality, dozens of companies entered this industry hoping to capitalise on renewed public interest in space. Tourism space flights are divided into types, including orbital, suborbital, etc.
In the future, the costs and risks of human spaceflight may become low enough to accommodate a thriving business of space tourism, in which many people would be able to experience space flight.
Orbital and suborbital space flights
Orbital and suborbital flights are very different. Taking an orbital flight means staying in orbit; in other words, going around the planet continually at very high speed in order to not fall back to Earth. Such a trip takes several days, even a week or more. A suborbital flight is more like a space hop where flights blast off, make a huge arc, and eventually fall back to Earth, never making it into orbit. The duration of the flight is two to three hours.
Space agencies
Space agencies are organisations that are involved in the fields of human space exploration, aeronautics and space transportation.
Their primary purpose is to develop and utilise the resources in space. These agencies consist of engineers, scientists, and researchers who are responsible for planning and designing space exploration missions.
Role of space agencies
The role of a space agency is to implement and manage space programmes, as well as promote science and technology research in space. They:
• launch astronauts into orbit on rockets and perform research into the solar system’s planets, moons, and comets.
• run laboratories in space, conducting research, testing, and development to advance aeronautics, including electric propulsion and supersonic flight.
Space agencies also send satellites into orbit around Earth and beyond, which collect data about how our planet works, how it changes over time, and how it interacts with other planets and objects in our solar system. They collect information about the universe and send it back to Earth, which helps us understand how things work in our solar system.
Space agencies are also responsible for building satellites, spacecraft and other tools that help scientists gather data from outer space.
They are also important because they help us to understand the Earth’s environment and monitor natural resources like forests or crops using satellites.
LIFE BEYOND THE KÁRMÁN LINE - OUTER SPACE
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