On April 14, 2025, Blue Origin launched six women, Aisha Bowe, Amanda Nguyễn, Gayle King, Katy Perry, Kerianne Flynn and Lauren Sánchez - a secondary journey along the edge of the space.

The headlines say it is a historic moment for women in space. But, as a travel educator, I paused - not because I questioned their experiences, but because I questioned the language. Are they astronauts or space tourists? The difference is crucial - not only for accuracy, but also for understanding how today's experiences, symbolism and motivational shapes travel.

In travel research, my colleagues and I often ask what motivates traveling and make it a meaningful experience. These women cross the border by leaving the surface of the earth. But they also sparked controversy over symbolic symbolism: the blurred boundaries between astronauts and tourists, between scientific achievements and carefully planned experiences.

This flight is not just the altitude they are flying to - it's about what it means. As civilians’ commercial space travel becomes more accessible, more and more people join space flights instead of as scientists or mission experts, but as invited guests or paid participants. The line between astronauts and space tourists is becoming increasingly blurred.

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In my own work, I explore how travelers find meaning on the journey. The perspectives of tourism research can help unravel experiences like design, sales and ultimate understanding of travelers and tourism industries.

So, are these passengers astronauts? Not in the traditional sense. They were not selected through NASA's rigorous training programs, nor were they studied or explored on track.

Instead, they fall into the new category: Space Visitors. These are participants in the carefully designed symbolic journey, reflecting how commercial space flights redefine what it means to enter space.

Space Tourism as a Niche Market

The space tourism industry originated in 1986 and later became the first orbital platform to host non-professional astronauts with the launch of the Mir Space Station. In the 1990s and early 2000s, Mir and his successor, the International Space Station, welcomed a handful of privately funded civilian guests - most notably the 2001 American businessman Dennis Tito, often known as the first space tourist.

Since then, space tourism has developed into a niche market, with sales briefly meeting the edge of the Earth's atmosphere. While passengers on flight NS-31 did not purchase seats, the experience reflects seats sold by commercial space travel providers such as Virgin Galactic.

Like other forms of niche tourism – health retreats, legacy trails or extreme adventures – space travel attracts those who attract novelty, exclusivity, and status, whether they buy tickets or not.

These suborbital flights may last only a few minutes, but they offer something more lasting: prestige, personal storytelling and the feeling of engaging in rare things. The experience of space tourism for sale is a place where few people have visited rather than the destination itself. For many, even a 10-minute flight can achieve a deep personal milestone.

Travel motivation and the evolution of space tourism

Push theory in tourism research helps explain why people may want to pursue space travel. The driving factors - internal desires, such as curiosity, the urge to escape, or the desire to gain fame - sparked interest. Pull factors - external factors such as the vision of the Earth from above or the feeling of weightlessness - enhance the attraction.

Space tourism integrates both. The internal drive is the driving force for doing something extraordinary and the external attraction of meticulously orchestrated, emotional experience.

These flights are usually branded – not necessarily with flashy logos, but rather with storytelling and design choices that make the experience iconic. For example, while the new Shepard rocket, Women's Travel doesn't carry a separate logo, it features the company's name "Blue Origin" along the bold letters along the side. Passengers wear personalized flight suits, pose for pre-flight photos and get mission patches or certificates, all designed to echo the rituals of professional space missions.

What is sold is the experience of "everyday for astronauts": emotionally powerful, symbolic visual appeal and rich symbolic meaning. But under the tourism classification, these travelers are space tourists - participants who participated in a carefully planned short-term tour.

Representative and marketing experience

Images of the blue origin flight from six women who boarded the Rockets are framed as symbolic victory – a moment of girl power designed to be visibility and celebrations – but also carefully planned.

This is not the first time a woman has entered the space. Since its inception, NASA has selected 61 women as astronaut candidates, many of whom have made breakthrough contributions to space science and exploration. Sally Ride, Mae Jemison, Christina Koch and Jessica Meir not only entered the space—they trained as astronauts and made significant contributions to science, engineering and long-term armed missions. Their journey marks historical achievements in space exploration, not a planning moment for tourism.

It is important to recognize their legacy because commercial space flight creates new unique, tailored experiences, and media performance has a more media performance impact than scientific milestones.

The blue flight is not a scientific mission, but is framed as a symbolic event. In the tourism industry, companies, marketers, and media often create these performances to maximize their visibility. SpaceX's Inspration4 Mission took a similar approach, turning private orbital flights into global media events, including Netflix documentaries and emotional storytelling.

Blue Origin Flight sells a sense of progress when fusing the roles between astronauts and guests. For blue, the symbol value is very large. By pushing the first all-female crew to the track space, the company was able to claim a historic milestone (that align them with inclusion – no cost, complexity or risk associated with scientific missions. In this way, they have attracted great media attention.

Tourism Education and Media Literacy

In today's world, space travel is about telling stories about flying. From well-curated visuals to social media posts and news coverage, much of the meaning of experience is shaped by marketing and media.

It is important to understand the process - not only for academics or industry insiders, but also for members of the public, who follow these trips, including narratives from the company’s marketing team and media.

Another theory in tourism research describes how destinations develop over time – from exploration, development, to mass adoption. Many forms of tourism start from the exploration phase and only visit the rich or good connections. For example, the grand journey of Europe was once a ceremony for the nobles. Its legacy helps shape and develop modern travel.

At present, space tourism is in the exploration stage. It's expensive, exclusive, and only a few. With limited infrastructure to support it, companies are still trying to experience the look. This isn't mass tourism yet, it's more of a high-profile playground for early adopters, attracting media attention and curiosity every time it is released.

Technology, economic transformation and advances in cultural norms can increase opportunities for unique destinations on most visitors’ boundaries. In tourism, space tourism may be the next step in this development. Now, the way it is constructed - who can go, how to mark the participants' stories and how to tell them - will move the tone forward. Understanding these trips helps people see inspiring experiences that social packaging and selling have long been able to join the journey.