Space Tourism Survey: Consumers Still Trust NASA Most

According to the Pew Research Center, Americans are generally supportive of space exploration. But there’s a big difference between supporting government-funded science programs and actually wanting to travel into space. However, companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic want to make space tourism a reality for individuals who aren’t tied to official space programs. So how many consumers are actually interested in space tourism? We asked 1,000 respondents about their thoughts on space and the growing interest in space travel.

Space Exploration

In Ask Your Target Market’s latest survey, 48% of respondents said that they are generally interested in space exploration. And 35% said that they would be interested in actually traveling to space, if possible. Looking forward, 28% think it’s at least somewhat likely that space tourism becomes widely popular within their lifetime.

Space Tourism

More realistically, just 14% of respondents said that they would be at least somewhat likely to actually spend a significant amount of money on a trip into space. Most of those interested said they would be most likely to trust NASA to take them into space. But others did mention companies like SpaceX and Virgin Galactic. Some even mentioned companies that aren’t directly involved in space exploration, like Tesla, Apple, Microsoft, BMW and Sony as companies they’d support if they had space programs.

Varying Interests

In general, 49% of respondents said that they are interested in technology. 48% said they are interested in travel. 41% are interested in science. 18% are interested in aviation. And 17% aren’t interested in any of those concepts.Of those who are interested in technology, 49% said they would be interested in traveling to space. Of those who are interested in travel, 44% said they would be interested in traveling to space. Of those who are interested in science, 54% said they would be interested in traveling to space. And of those who are interested in aviation, 61% said they would be interested in traveling into space.

Key Takeaways

Space tourism doesn’t appeal to most consumers at this point. But there are a few interest groups that are more likely to have an affinity for space tourism. Though we’re still likely years away from space tourism being a reality for most consumers, it could be beneficial for those companies to start targeting consumers now, especially since consumers are most likely to trust an established name like NASA when it comes to space travel. And targeting consumers who are interested in aviation and science could be a good starting point for those brands to build early trust with consumers who could one day be interested in space tourism options.You can view the complete survey results in the widget below and be sure to click “Open Full Report” to take advantage of all the chart and filter options.Photo Credit: SpaceX by Steven Straiton under CC BY 2.0What do you want to know? If you need some consumer insights on a particular topic, let us know in the comments below and we’ll consider it for an upcoming survey post.

Results were collected on October 28-November 1 via AYTM’s online survey panel.