{
  "name": "Space Tourism Flight Timeline",
  "description": "A curated timeline of the space tourism and private-astronaut flights that changed what was possible -- firsts, records, and turning points -- not a complete log of every flight. Verified against original reporting and maintained by Outer Space Trip.",
  "publisher": "Outer Space Trip",
  "url": "https://outerspacetrip.com/guides/space-tourism-timeline/",
  "license": "CC BY 4.0",
  "license_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "license_note": "CC BY 4.0 applies to this compilation (its selection, arrangement, dating, and maintenance). The underlying facts are public record; each flight carries its own source.",
  "attribution": "Compiled by Outer Space Trip (outerspacetrip.com)",
  "basis": "A curated list of the space tourism and private-astronaut missions that actually changed what was possible — firsts, records, and turning points — not a complete log of every flight. Each entry is dated and sourced; see the source link on each row.",
  "flights": [
    {
      "date": "2001-04-28",
      "mission": "Dennis Tito — Soyuz TM-32",
      "operator": "Space Adventures / Roscosmos",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The first private citizen to buy his way to space — eight days in orbit, six of them docked at the ISS, for a reported $20 million.",
      "source_label": "Space.com",
      "source_url": "https://www.space.com/11492-space-tourism-pioneer-dennis-tito.html"
    },
    {
      "date": "2006-09-18",
      "mission": "Anousheh Ansari — Soyuz TMA-9",
      "operator": "Space Adventures / Roscosmos",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The first woman to pay her own way to space, and the first person of Iranian descent to fly — she trained as a backup and was elevated to the prime crew after the original flyer was medically disqualified.",
      "source_label": "Britannica",
      "source_url": "https://www.britannica.com/money/Anousheh-Ansari"
    },
    {
      "date": "2009-09-30",
      "mission": "Guy Laliberté — Soyuz TMA-16",
      "operator": "Space Adventures / Roscosmos",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The seventh and, for over a decade, the last Space Adventures tourist to fly — NASA's shuttle retirement absorbed the remaining Soyuz seats for its own astronauts.",
      "source_label": "Phys.org",
      "source_url": "https://phys.org/news/2009-09-canadian-circus-billionaire-space-station.html"
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-07-11",
      "mission": "Virgin Galactic Unity 22 (Richard Branson)",
      "operator": "Virgin Galactic",
      "type": "Suborbital",
      "milestone": "The first fully crewed VSS Unity spaceflight, with the company's founder aboard — about four minutes of weightlessness at 86 km before a runway landing.",
      "source_label": "Space.com",
      "source_url": "https://www.space.com/virgin-galactic-unity-22-branson-flight-success"
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-07-20",
      "mission": "Blue Origin NS-16 (Jeff Bezos, Wally Funk, Oliver Daemen)",
      "operator": "Blue Origin",
      "type": "Suborbital",
      "milestone": "New Shepard's first crewed flight. Funk, 82, and Daemen, 18, became the oldest and youngest people to reach space at the time.",
      "source_label": "The Washington Post",
      "source_url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/07/20/bezos-space-flight-live-updates-video/"
    },
    {
      "date": "2021-09-16",
      "mission": "Inspiration4",
      "operator": "SpaceX",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The first all-civilian crew to reach orbit — no professional astronauts aboard — spending three days circling Earth on a Crew Dragon with no ISS docking.",
      "source_label": "The Washington Post",
      "source_url": "https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2021/09/15/spacex-launch-civilian-flight/"
    },
    {
      "date": "2022-04-08",
      "mission": "Axiom Mission 1 (Ax-1)",
      "operator": "Axiom Space",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The first fully private crewed mission to the ISS, a reported $55 million per seat — 17 days on orbit for a four-person crew.",
      "source_label": "Space.com",
      "source_url": "https://www.space.com/ax-1-axiom-space-station-mission"
    },
    {
      "date": "2023-06-29",
      "mission": "Virgin Galactic Galactic 01",
      "operator": "Virgin Galactic",
      "type": "Suborbital",
      "milestone": "Virgin Galactic's first commercial spaceflight after two decades of development — paying research passengers, not test pilots, aboard VSS Unity.",
      "source_label": "SpaceNews",
      "source_url": "https://spacenews.com/virgin-galactic-announces-galactic-01-crew-onboard-the-first-commercial-spaceflight/"
    },
    {
      "date": "2024-09-10",
      "mission": "Polaris Dawn",
      "operator": "SpaceX",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The first private spacewalk, and the highest crewed Earth orbit since the Apollo program — an elliptical path reaching 1,400 km.",
      "source_label": "Space.com",
      "source_url": "https://www.space.com/spacex-polaris-dawn-first-private-spacewalk"
    },
    {
      "date": "2025-03-31",
      "mission": "Fram2",
      "operator": "SpaceX",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The first crewed polar-orbit spaceflight — an all-civilian crew circled both of Earth's poles, something no human spaceflight had done before.",
      "source_label": "Space.com",
      "source_url": "https://www.space.com/space-exploration/launches-spacecraft/spacex-launches-private-fram2-astronauts-on-historic-spaceflight-over-earths-poles"
    },
    {
      "date": "2025-04-14",
      "mission": "Blue Origin NS-31 (Katy Perry, Gayle King, Lauren Sánchez, and 3 others)",
      "operator": "Blue Origin",
      "type": "Suborbital",
      "milestone": "The first all-female spaceflight since Valentina Tereshkova flew solo in 1963, and the most-watched New Shepard flight to date.",
      "source_label": "CNBC",
      "source_url": "https://www.cnbc.com/2025/04/14/blue-origin-launches-an-all-female-celebrity-crew-with-katy-perry-gayle-king-and-lauren-sanchez.html"
    },
    {
      "date": "2025-06-25",
      "mission": "Axiom Mission 4 (Ax-4)",
      "operator": "Axiom Space",
      "type": "Orbital",
      "milestone": "The first ISS spaceflight for India in over 40 years, and the first ever for Hungary and Poland — an 18-day stay carrying three government-sponsored astronauts.",
      "source_label": "Axiom Space",
      "source_url": "https://www.axiomspace.com/mission-blog/ax4-launches"
    },
    {
      "date": "2026-01-22",
      "mission": "Blue Origin NS-38",
      "operator": "Blue Origin",
      "type": "Suborbital",
      "milestone": "New Shepard's last tourist flight before Blue Origin paused the program on January 30, 2026 for at least two years to focus on its Blue Moon lunar lander.",
      "source_label": "TechCrunch",
      "source_url": "https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/30/blue-origin-pauses-space-tourism-flights-to-focus-on-the-moon/"
    }
  ]
}