OR Rep Proposes Space Tourism Tax-Perfect Way To Derail Entrepreneurs

(Washington, DC) — Just as entrepreneurs are building a private space industry, here comes politicians with a plan to thwart it. The cost of flying to space on Blue Origin, Virgin Galactic, or any other tourist craft would go up under a proposed space tourism tax. Democrat Oregon Congressman Earl Blumenauer, a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, has previewed the Securing Protections Against Carbon Emissions, or SPACE, tax. Blumenauer says just as normal Americans pay taxes when they buy airline tickets, billionaires who fly into space to produce nothing of scientific value should do the same. The tax would have two tiers, one for suborbital flights and a higher tax for orbital flights. There would be an exemption for NASA spaceflights where scientific research is conducted.