Do you have $1.5 billion to spare? Didn’t think so, but if you did, Golden Spike Company will take you on a space adventure to the moon and back and even vacation there for a couple days. The billion dollar ticket gets you two seats on the spacecraft and specially made spacesuits to let you actually step foot on the surface. Hey, it would be a great first date.
The company is welcoming just about anyone on board of their commercial lunar spacecrafts, whether it be for research or for the experience; if you’ve got the money, the seats are yours.
Golden Spike Company announced its plans to the world on Thursday, but that’s all it is at the moment–plans.
“We’re a startup and we’ve been at this for two years,” company CEO Dr. Alan Stern told Forbes. “But we don’t have anything built yet but an interesting business plan.”
A few countries are already showing interest according to Stern. He’s looking at counties like South Africa, South Korea and Japan. The United States is the only country that has landed people on the moon, beating the Soviet Union in a space race.
“It’s not about being first. It’s about joining the club,” Stern said. “We’re kind of cleaning up what NASA did in the 1960s. We’re going to make a commodity of it in the 2020s.”
Tons of private space companies have started recently, but few if any will actually make it, says Harvard astronomer Jonathan McDowell.
“This is unlikely to be the one that will pan out,” McDowell said.
In the meantime, I’m saving up. See you on the moon!