The tourist companies would charge much more to cover the rocket flights to and from space, and to make a profit. The company will use SpaceX, the rocket company run by Elon Musk, to take private astronauts. In the 2000s, seven private citizens did visit the space station, but those trips were arranged through the Russians, which operate half of the station. Friday’s announcement was one of several new policies designed to allow companies to take advantage of the space station for more commercial activities. But there are still limits to what NASA astronauts can do: For example, NASA astronauts would be allowed to film a television commercial in space, but would not be allowed to endorse a product.

Source: International New York Times June 07, 2019 15:41 UTC