Yes, another space tourism report

Earlier this week I noticed a press release from Universal Space Systems (USS) announcing their “2006 Pre-release Holiday Sale” for their upcoming report, the “Space Adventurer Assessment/Report”. This document, which the release humbly describes as “the ultimate reference guide whether you will be taking a trip into space in the next few years or many years from now”, is on sale through Christmas Eve for the low, low price of $2,000, one-third of its list price.

The idea of selling research reports for hefty prices is commonplace in a wide range of industries: when we originally released the Space Tourism Market Study at Futron four years ago, we charged $1,500 for the suborbital-only version and $2,500 for the suborbital and orbital version. (Two years ago we made the report free to all.) Another company, Research Reports International, issued a report earlier this year on the space tourism industry for “just” $199, although as noted here there’s not much original work in that report. USS does provide a table of contents and sample pages from the report; it’s tough to judge the report from that alone, but what’s provided suggests a comprehensive report, although at a basic level of detail and primarily regurgitating existing information.

A bigger concern for prospective customers is the lack of information about the company itself. The company’s web site does have a toll-free number and email addresses, but no mailing address. (The press release is datelined “Upham, NM”, but that seems unlikely since no one lives in Upham, the future site of Spaceport America.) The company’s domain name, universalspacesystems.com, has its registration information, including address, assigned to contactprivacy.com, a Toronto company that provides a Whois privacy service. The web site also doesn’t provide any information about who works for the company, to gauge their expertise and credentials. That doesn’t mean the company’s up to no good, of course, but does suggest you might want to do a little research on your own before paying $2,000 or more for their report.

(I’ve contacted the company y email, asking for some more information about themselves and their report; I’ll pass along any response.)

2 comments to Yes, another space tourism report

  • Ed

    Oh Jeffrey don’t get you panties in a knot.
    Sounds like Futron can’t stand the heat.
    But in the bigger picture who says USS or Futron have got any of the real inside goods on the
    emerging space industry anyways.
    Maybe USS like Futron found a good way to make money.
    Now hear is my idea, someone should create a company that provides market intelligence for the
    prospective buyer of reports from Market-intelligence service providers.

  • Jeff Foust

    Ed, thanks for your comments. For the record, unless otherwise stated, standard disclaimers apply: I speak only for myself here, and no one else.

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