What are your passenger rights in space?

Travel Troubleshooter

If you’ve been dreaming of a spaceflight on Blue Origin, SpaceX or Virgin Galactic, then you might have wondered about your passenger rights once you leave Earth. So have I.

Passenger rights in space sound like a problem for science fiction. But it might not be as far off as it seems. Several recent surveys have suggested that interest in space tourism is soaring. A recent study by Northern Sky Research projected that space tourism will be a $7.9 billion business by 2030.

Back in 2014, after a Virgin Galactic space plane crashed during a test flight, several passengers reportedly asked for — and received — a refund of their $250,000 tickets. But today, Virgin Galactic’s refund policy is nowhere to be found on its site. Nor is a ticket contract or any mention of the company’s obligations to passengers.

I asked Virgin Galactic about its passenger-rights provisions. The company publishes basic pricing for its spaceflight on its site. The total cost of a trip to space is $450,000, beginning with a $150,000 fee that includes and a nonrefundable deposit of $25,000. A spokeswoman said it has a “standard” refund policy and can give your money back if you decide not to fly.

“Outstanding customer service is central to Virgin Galactic’s value proposition,” spokesperson Christine Delargy told me in an email.

Space-tourism experts say passenger rights are anything but standard. No federal agency appears to be in charge of regulating customer service issues for space travel. Delays, cancellations and refunds are left to the space travel companies to determine. But change is coming.

What are your rights when you fly in space?

“It’s extremely complicated,” says Jane Reifert, a space tourism expert who runs the tour operator Incredible Adventures. She says passenger rights are near the bottom of the list of concerns. The contracts space travelers sign deal with life-or-death issues.

“Passengers on spaceflights will be required to sign their lives away — literally,” she says. “They’ll need to acknowledge and accept the risk of death. Before flying, they’ll need to agree to medical screening and some degree of preflight training.

“Expecting commercial spaceflights to be anything like commercial air travel would be a huge mistake,” she adds.

Which federal agency is in charge of regulating space tourism?

The Federal Aviation Administration is nominally in charge of regulating commercial space tourism through its Office of Commercial Space Transportation. The office is tasked with safety, public health and national security issues, but Congress has prohibited the agency from regulating the safety of individuals on board with a moratorium that expires in October 2023.

There’s no mention of customer service or consumer rights on the FAA’s webpage for human spaceflight, and an agency spokesperson told me that it does not have the authority to regulate customer service issues.

For now, each commercial space company is free to set its own terms. And they do.

Space Perspective, a new spaceflight company that plans to start offering high-altitude balloon flights in late 2024, charges $125,000 per ticket for a six-hour round trip to the edge of space. Booking begins with a $1,000 fully refundable deposit. The contract does not address refunds for any failure to operate a flight. However, its flight reservations form says it offers no warranty to commence commercial operations of its vehicles within any time frame, “or even at all.”

“Transparency with our customers about the entire Space Perspective experience is of utmost importance to us,” says Jane Poynter, a founder and co-CEO of Space Perspective. She says her company is finalizing the details of its terms and conditions for commercial flights starting in late 2024. It plans to include policies for canceled flights, last-minute passenger opt-outs and rescheduling.

“Explorers can expect to see these posted on our website and given to them individually well prior to providing their final payments,” she told me.

I asked Blue Origin and SpaceX whether they had a publicly available contract that addressed issues such as cancellations, delays or denied boarding. They did not respond.

What passenger rights questions need to be answered

At some point, a regulatory agency will need to take responsibility for passenger rights in space. That agency will need to review some basic issues regarding space travel, including:

Delays: What kind of provisions does a space-transportation company make for lengthy delays? Is it required to offer accommodations and meals while space travelers wait for the next launch window?

Cancellations: If a commercial space company cancels a launch, is the space line required to rebook the passenger on the next available flight? Is it required to issue a refund, or can it offer a ticket credit? Should that credit expire after a year, as some airline ticket credits do?

Refunds: When should a space-transportation company offer passengers a refund? How long is a reasonable launch delay? What portion of the ticket should be refundable? For example, can a company add a nonrefundable “membership fee” to its ticket price, even when no services are provided?

How will the government regulate space travel in the future?

The government could choose one of several paths when it comes to passenger rights. One option is to impose an airline model used by the Transportation Department. The department regulates some issues related to delays, cancellations and refunds, but it’s a light touch compared with Europe. More often, airlines set their customer service policies, and the Transportation Department requires that they adhere to those policies.

Regulators could also adopt the cruise-line model used by the Federal Maritime Commission. The FMC is mostly hands-off when it comes to regulating customer service, although it recently revised its regulations to establish new requirements for providing cruise passengers with refunds for canceled or delayed voyages.

The government may also decide to create another agency to handle the unique challenges of space travel and customer service. But the likeliest scenario, at least in the near term, is no regulation at all. Space companies would be free to set their own policies and change them whenever they wanted. But at some point, the long arm of federal regulators will inevitably catch up to them.

Even if there are no passenger rights, there’s always insurance. That’s no joke. Last year, travel insurance company Battleface launched a civilian space insurance plan. It covers accidental death and permanent disablement, but alas, lost luggage and delays are not part of the plan. Costs vary based on your age and health, as well as the type of coverage you need, according to the company.

I asked Battleface how many policies it had sold. A representative said the company has seen “a lot of interest” but has not written any space-travel policies yet.

It’s still early in the game. There will be more space travelers soon — and with them, the inevitable customer service complaints.