EADS plans jet for space tourists

PARIS – European aerospace company EADS on Wednesday unveiled a model of a jet designed to take tourists into space, rocketing paying passengers to weightlessness at more than 62 miles above the Earth.

EADS Astrium said it hoped the space jet – which looks much like a conventional aircraft although it is outfitted with rocket engines – will be operational by next year, with the first flight scheduled for 2012.

Tickets are expected to cost $199,000 to $265,000, said the company, which displayed a full-scale model in Paris.

The space jet would take off from regular airports using conventional jet engines. Upon reaching an altitude of about 7 1/2 miles, the pilot would ignite the rocket engines, sending the craft to an altitude of 37 miles in 80 seconds.

The engines would then be shut down and the craft’s momentum would carry it to its final altitude. There, passengers would be able to gaze down on Earth and experience weightlessness for three minutes.

Only four passengers would travel on each half-hour flight, the company said.

The model was equipped with special balancing seats to reduce the powerful effect of takeoff and landing.

Astrium head Francois Auque told reporters the company expects to secure several hundred million dollars in funding for the project by the end of the year. Most of the money is to come from private investors, although governments, like that of the southern German state of Bavaria where the engines are to be produced, may also take part, the company said.