Virginia-based Space Adventures has been around since 1998 and has already posted some meaningful accomplishments along the evolutionary path to a future of private space travel. The company promotes and works actively on early-stage space tourism, and according to their site, they “are the first and only company to have sent self-funded individuals to space. [Their] clients have cumulatively spent close to three months in space and traveled over 36 million miles.”

Some of Space Adventures’ recent projects include partnering with Boeing on the new CST-100 space capsule (pictured below), which is being designed to ferry astronauts (and tourists) to the International Space Station.

Here’s the interior:

Here’s the exterior:

Cool stuff.

As we move rapidly toward private space travel, it’s not difficult to imagine the possibilities for private individuals. As with any early-stage techno-economic ecosystem, the costs and prices are high now, open only to early adopters, and the industry players are few and small, but there is so much momentum that private space travel is not a matter of “if” but rather of “when.”

If you’re into space, it’s worth checking out Space Adventures. I’ll leave you with a video in which the company’s Chairman and CEO, Eric Anderson, talks about going to the moon.