Although it's an expensive endeavor, space travel has reached a turning point, with private citizens able to make their own reservations for spaceflights. But how safe could a space tour actually be?

The space tourism industry is currently going through its own race -- although it doesn't have the same tense political implications as the nuclear arms race did, many people are concerned about the safety of sending citizens into space like they're on a roller coaster. The history of space flights and exploration is scattered with near disasters and fatal catastrophes, from Apollo 13 in 1970 to the Columbia explosion in 2003. These flights were funded, developed and launched by governments and organizations like NASA. Space tourism programs, on the other hand, are run and developed by private companies, and the whole concept is really just beginning. One would suspect the safety of paying customers, along with citizens on the ground, is a top priority to those interested.

Space tourism is a rapidly expanding industry that should appeal to wealthy travelers and extreme sports fans -- it's sort of like a modern-day safari, except on a rocket ship shooting through space. How safe would a tour into space be? Who's regulating these businesses in their early stages, if anyone? Has the government weighed in at all? How much do participants know going into a space tour? Do they have to sign anything?

A recent poll of affluent Americans suggests that space tourism could create more than $1 billion in revenue by 2021. It's obvious that people are interested and eager to see what it's like in space, and to many it's a dream come true, but no one doubts the risks inherent in such an industry.

On one hand, companies see space tourism as a profitable endeavor, so they want to move forward as quickly as possible in order to compete. On the other, accidents caused by overly hasty production could trouble the industry if the public sees it as too dangerous.

The year 2004 marked the turning point for space tourism, including the commercial space transportation laws. SpaceShipOne, the first private manned spaceship to launch higher than 328,000 feet twice within two weeks, won the $10 million Ansari X-Prize in 2004.

The organization called upon to follow guidelines is the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the same agency responsible for regulating the safety of commercial air traffic. Their job is a tricky one. Representatives from the FAA will attend every launch, evaluate every landing and work alongside people in the space tourism industry, but they aren't allowed to impose any safety regulations until 2012 unless there's a serious accident. Once a spacecraft is up in the air, the FAA has no say on what happens. The FAA also requires that space tourists should have to agree to act as "participants," not "passengers," during flights, since the expectations of safety will be lower on a space tour. Citizens must also agree not to sue the government if there's a fatal accident.

Because it's so early in development and the FAA can't control how companies design their vehicles, it's hard to say how safe or unsafe launching citizens into space will be. During a panel discussion over safety regulations, however, Tracey Knutson, a lawyer advising the FAA on the matter, said: "We're going to kill some people".

One company has already experienced setbacks with accidents. Scaled Composites, the same company that developed and launched SpaceShipOne, was conducting propellant flow tests on space tourism vehicles at the Mojave Air and Space Port in California on July 26, 2007, when an explosion killed three workers and injured three others.

(Contribute by Dr. Dagmawi Tewolde)