ABSTRACT
Space tourism is a rapidly growing field of economic activity. It is another part of society’s ‘outer spatial fix’, one in which surplus profits are being ploughed into outer space. Now that virtually all space on Earth has been humanized and thoroughly populated, outer space is being made by elite groups into the new exotic destination of choice. But this is only part of the picture. The humanization of outer space also uses and reinforces an ancient and powerful worldview, concerning society’s relations with the cosmos. It relies on the idea that outer space is an apparently pure and serene ‘other’ place offering a profound sense of awe, wonder and renewed identity to the space tourist. Travelling there supposedly brings the same kinds of rewards, in the form of a new self, as does travelling to a holy site during a pilgrimage. Tourism in outer space will be the newest way in which social elites forge their identities. This hegemonic view of the cosmos and society’s relation to it is a product of a new dominant social bloc, one incorporating pro-space activists, the aerospace industry, the tourism industry and governments.
