Commercial spacetravel

At this moment there are four large commercial space travel company's

At first we have Virgin Galactic which is a very well known company recently they have been a lot in the media because of their new spacecraft, Spaceship Two.
Virgin Galactic is the world's first spaceline. Giving you the groundbreaking opportunity to become one of the first ever non-professional astronauts. Virgin Galactic will own and operate its privately built spaceships, modelled on the remarkable, history-making SpaceShipOne.
Virgin's vast experience in aviation, adventure, luxury travel and cutting-edge design combined with the unique technology developed by Burt Rutan will ensure an unforgettable experience unlike any other available to mankind.
With safety at the forefront, our unique spacecraft is being designed at Rutan's base in Mojave, California alongside a concerted research and development programme.
"The deal with Mojave Aerospace Ventures is just the start of what we believe will be a new era in the history of mankind, one day making the affordable exploration of space by human beings a real possibility." Richard Branson.
It is these spaceships that will allow affordable sub-orbital space tourism for the first time in the history of the universe.
Website: http://www.virgingalactic.com/htmlsite/index.php

Bigelow Aerospace is also a well known company.
Bigelow Aerospace is dedicated to developing next-generation crewed space complexes to revolutionize space commerce and open up the final frontier to all of humanity. At Bigelow Aerospace, we're building the future today!
website: http://www.bigelowaerospace.com/

Space adventures is also offering space flights, you even can travel to the moon but it will cost you a 100 million dollar.
Space Adventures' vision is to open spaceflight and the space frontier to private citizens.
Over the next decade Space Adventures will fly more people to space than have made the journey since the dawn of the Space Age. Our clients will fly on suborbital flights, on voyages to Earth orbit and on historic expeditions that circumnavigate the moon. Flights will leave from spaceports both on Earth and in space, visiting private space stations, and aboard dozens of different vehicles. By continually providing newly available space experiences and improving existing space experiences, Space Adventures will continue to lead the private spaceflight industry that it begun in 2001 with the flight of the world's first space tourist.
website: http://www.spaceadventures.com/

And last but not least Spacedev this is the largest commercial space travel company.
SpaceDev (OTCBB:SPDV) is an entrepreneurial space systems company that develops high performance, innovative components and systems that are changing how we get to, explore, and use space. Our products range from spacecraft actuators that power the Mars rovers, to hybrid rocket technologies that powered the first commercial astronaut to space, and from microsatellites controlled by the Internet to Dream Chaser™, a winged and piloted orbital commercial spacecraft. SpaceDev products innovate, enable and perform.
website: http://www.spacedev.com/

Iran launches first space centre

TEHRAN (AFP) — Iran on Monday opened a new space centre that will launch its first home-built research satellite, saying the inauguration marked another step forward in its battle against Western dominance. A rocket was fired into space at the remote desert centre in northern Iran to mark the event, the second time the Islamic republic has attempted to fire a rocket into space. "We witness today that Iran has taken its first step in space very firmly, precisely and with awareness," declared President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad as he gave the order for the launch. "The evil and dominant system's most important instrument is humiliating people and nations by making them think that they are incapable," he said in a reference to the West. The space centre includes an underground control station and launch pad which will be used to fire an Iranian satellite named Omid (Hope) into space in May or June, officials said. "Building and firing a satellite is a major and valuable achievement," said Ahmadinejad, who gave the order from the headquarters of Iran's space organisation in Tehran. The opening of the space centre comes as Iran has been trumpeting its progress in its nuclear programme, which the West fears could be used to make atomic weapons. The emphasis on Iran's development of its own domestic space technology is highly reminiscent of its insistence on developing its nuclear capabilities, which has led it into a four-year standoff with the West.
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India, US to cooperate in space flights

India and the US plan to cooperate in the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes, including in the area of human space flights, under a new agreement between their space agencies. A framework agreement establishing the terms for future cooperation between the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) and US space agency National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) was signed on Friday at the Kennedy Space Centre by ISRO chairman G Madhavan Nair and NASA administrator Michael Griffin. "I am honoured to sign this agreement with the India Space Research Organisation," Griffin said. "This agreement will allow us to cooperate effectively on a wide range of programmes of mutual interest." "India has extensive space-related experience, capabilities and infrastructure, and will continue to be a welcome partner in NASA's future space exploration activities," he added. According to the framework agreement, the two agencies will identify areas of mutual interest and seek to develop cooperative programmes or projects in Earth and space science, exploration, human space flight and other activities.
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NASA Issues Environmental Impact Statement for Constellation

NASA’s Constellation Program is developing a space transportation system that is designed to return humans to the moon by 2020. The Final Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement concludes that localized and global environmental impacts associated with implementing the program would be comparable to past or ongoing NASA activities. The National Environmental Policy Act requires federal agencies to prepare an environmental impact statement for major federal actions that may significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Federal agencies consider potential environmental impacts of their proposed actions before deciding whether and how to proceed. The statement examines the effects of development, testing and operation of spacecraft and support systems associated with Constellation Program activities through the early 2020s. NASA plans to use multiple government and contractor facilities in implementing the program. The program components to be developed include the Orion crew exploration vehicle, the Ares I crew launch vehicle, the Ares V cargo launch vehicle, the Altair lunar lander and other cargo systems. Orion will launch atop the Ares I and be capable of docking with the International Space Station or with cargo launched to low Earth orbit by the Ares V for transit to the moon, or future missions to Mars.

The race to clutter space

Space debris is trash, junk or garbage. It includes derelict spacecraft, pieces of launch vehicles, remains from explosions, rocket motors, bolts, defunct satellites and fragments from any of the above. Little pieces can mean big problems in space. They travel 30 times faster than a commercial jet aircraft. A fragment as small as 1 centimeter can significantly damage an operational satellite in orbit. Since debris can stay in orbit for decades, it accumulates around Earth in what could be likened to a space mine field. There are currently 150 million pieces of orbital debris at all altitudes in space, according to the Union of Concerned Scientists. Satellites provide many services to those on land, including television, cell phone and GPS signals, weather forecasting, global environment monitoring, and views of our solar system. Damage can result in loss of signals and valuable information. A 2006 study by NASA estimates that large debris will increase by nearly 40 percent over the next 200 years, and the number of fragments will triple, even assuming no further objects are launched. As space debris accumulates around Earth, portions of space and entire orbital paths may become too dangerous and thus off-limits. “Once you put debris (in space), the lifetime can be so long that you are taking a large band of space and reducing utility,” said David Wright, co-director and senior scientist with the Union of Concerned Scientists

United States' Plan to 'Dominate Space' Could Backfire

By aggressively pursuing space weapons, the United States may create the very arms race that world leaders are trying to avoid. It has been a little more than a year since China tested its anti-satellite capabilities by destroying a defunct Chinese weather satellite and producing a cloud of debris that is still littering low Earth orbit. Space warriors reiterated their claims that the United States needs to step up their efforts to dominate space before anyone else does. Global Security experts claimed that maybe it was finally time for the United States to accept the invitation of Russia and China to draft a treaty prohibiting space weapons. No one knows if Russia and China are calling for a space treaty because it makes them look good in the international arena or because it is something they really want. Some say the anti-satellite test was "a shot over the bow" to let the United States know that they cannot ignore the space weapons question anymore.

China: We Don't Want An Arms Race in Space

Put this one in the category of good ideas, disingenuous sources. According to Xinhua, the Chinese government's official news agency, Chinese officials will "actively push" for a treaty barring space-based arms this week.
The United Nations-sponsored Conference on Disarmament is being held in Geneva this week. Hence the announcement by Wang Qun, leader of the Chinese delegation, Xinhua reports. This isn't new territory for China. Both it and Russia have been pushing for international talks on barring space-based arms since the beginning of the decade. Many other nations have been amenable, but the United States has consistently put the kibosh on any such idea.

Israel ready for return to space

Israel ready for return to space. Israel is ready to send another astronaut into space with NASA. Benny Elon, the chairman of the Knesset Science and Technology Committee, told a U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration delegation Monday that Israel would like to be involved in a new space mission. The delegation was in Israel to mark the five years since Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon and six NASA astronauts died when the space shuttle Columbia burned up when re-entering the earth's atmosphere. Ramon's widow, Rona., also attended the meeting. The delegation of astronauts and scientists is scheduled to attend the Ramon family's memorial service Thursday.

ATV 'Jules Verne' presented at media briefing

With the launch of the first Automated Transfer Vehicle 'Jules Verne' rapidly approaching, ESA Programme managers and industry specialists participated in a media briefing at ESA Head Office in Paris, France, earlier today.
They presented an overview of the Automated Transfer Vehicle (ATV) programme and also took stock of the current status of the spacecraft and lead the Media through the upcoming phases: the launch, the journey to the International Space Station, the delicate manoeuvres up to docking and the complex operations related to this very challenging mission. The 20-tonne re-supply and space-tug module will be carried into orbit by a special version of the Ariane 5 launch vehicle called the Ariane 5 Evolution Storable (ES). The launcher is scheduled to lift-off from the European spaceport in Kourou, French Guiana, not earlier than 22 February next.