Weddings in SPAAAAAAAAAACE….

I have recently been hearing little but rumors of bad news out of Rocketplane, Inc., a company I worked for…. sorta (it’s a long, weird and ultimately unfortunate story). But then there’s this:

 

TOKYO —

First Advantage, a company that organizes weddings, will start accepting applications for its “Space Wedding” service from July 1. The service will be offered in 2011 on “Rocket Plane XP” developed by America’s Rocketplane Inc.

The Space Wedding service offers a wedding in outer space about 100 kilometers above the Earth’s surface. The couple will be taken up aboard the chartered Rocket Plane XP. The premium plan, including original wedding dress, wedding party on the ground, accommodation and transportation, and live broadcasting on original websites from space, will cost 240 million yen.

According to First Advantage, two more guests can be invited in addition to the couple, a pilot and a priest. The flight will be about one-hour long, and a four-day training period will be necessary.

Now, either things aren’t as dire as I’d heard atRocketplane, OR… somebody didn’t get the memo. In any event, 240 million yen works out to about  $2.25 million, US. Given that this is for five passengers – the couple, two guests and a Space Priest, that’s about $450,000 each. That’s a notable increase over the $200,000 target price Rocketplane was advertising a few years back. Could be that the wedding organizer company tacks on a hefty fee.