Lianhe Zaobao, 4 August, 2021
(English Translation)
Space travel now accessible for the rich and is expected to grow in popularity
Have you ever dreamed of going to space? Many people think that this dream is out of reach, because only specially selected personnel who have undergone rigorous training can become an astronaut. Today, that has changed – the wealthy can now afford to go to space with a few thousands of dollars. Last month, two British and American billionaires realized their childhood dream of going to space, opening a new chapter of space tourism for mankind.
The two billionaires are Richard Branson, founder of Virgin Group, and Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon. Branson took off to space aboard his Virgin Galactic spacecraft on July 11, while Bezos arrived at the edge of space nine days later in his Blue Origin rocket.
Singapore Space & Technology Ltd (SSTL) CEO Lynette Tan said in an interview with Lianhe Zaobao that space technology has a wide range of commercial uses in various industries, and can be used in telecommunications, cybersecurity, transportation and et cetera.
“Spaceflights by the rich and famous raise the interest of companies in space technology,” she said. “We’re seeing more ideas harnessing space technology and its versatile applications, which accelerates the commercialization of the sector. It’s important to validate concepts and organize “scrum” teams to bring different space technologies together and develop them into commercial solutions, and recently we’ve been approached by more and more companies for this purpose.”
你是否梦想过上太空？很多人都认为这梦想太遥远，因为只有长时间接受各种严格训练的特选人员，才能当上太空人。现在情况大不同，只要一掷千金就能轻轻松松地到太空潇洒走一回。上个月，英美两名亿万富翁花大钱实现了他们的儿时太空梦，也开启了人类太空旅游的新篇章.
这两名富豪分别是英国维珍集团创办人理查德布兰森（Richard Branson）和美国亚马逊创办人杰夫贝佐斯（Jeff Bezos）。布兰森在7月11日登上自家的“维珍银河”（Virgin Galactic）飞船拔得头筹，贝佐斯则在九天后，乘坐自家的“蓝色起源”（Blue Origin）火箭抵达太空.
新加坡航天与科技公司（Singapore Space & Technology Ltd，简称SSTL）行政总裁陈淑婷接受《联合早报》访问时说，太空科技有非常广泛的商业用途，能用于电信业、网络安全、交通运输等。
她说：“富豪们的太空飞行提高各企业对太空科技的兴趣。我们看到大家对太空科技有更多想法，它的用途变得更广，也加快其商业化速度。验证概念和组织开发团队把不同太空科技结合在一起，并发展为商业方案很重要，近期就有越来越多企业为此跟我们接洽。”
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