Roman Chiporukha, a veteran luxury travel planner, has shifted his focus from earthly exclusivity to the final frontier. For over two decades, he co-owned the lifestyle firm Roman & Erica, arranging bespoke experiences like building a client's superyacht or organizing a Bahamas getaway so private that guests had to sign non-disclosure agreements.
His reputation for delivering the extraordinary caught the attention of Axiom Space in 2018. The company sought three citizen explorers willing to pay $50 million each for a seat on the first fully private mission to the International Space Station, scheduled for April 2022. Chiporukha successfully recruited those pioneers and, in 2021, launched SpaceVIP, a digital platform that curates space experiences blending culture, science, and purpose.
Without a background as an astronaut or aerospace engineer, Chiporukha had to quickly educate himself on the complexities of commercial spaceflight. He has since consolidated a fragmented industry into a single portal, allowing clients to explore suborbital flights and other itineraries as easily as planning a weekend trip. Yet he emphasizes the need for a human expert to secure 'the perks, the custom requests, and the upgrades.'
SpaceVIP receives dozens of inquiries monthly, but Chiporukha personally assists a select group of clients, designing adventures that match their budgets and physical limits. He collaborates with operators like Axiom for multi-day ISS stays, and with Blue Origin, SpaceX, and Virgin Galactic for other journeys. Options range from zero-gravity parabolic flights to a six-hour voyage in a stratospheric balloon 15 miles above Earth, which he describes as 'relatively affordable' for those who can spend a few hundred thousand dollars.
Beyond serving the ultra-rich, Chiporukha is working to broaden space's appeal. He co-founded the Space Prize Foundation, a nonprofit that organizes science competitions for young women and underrepresented groups in STEM. Winners receive zero-gravity flights and entry into astronaut-training programs. 'Making space more mainstream isn't just about bringing down the cost of a ticket,' he says. 'It's about creating pathways into the industry and helping people understand that this future shouldn't belong to a tiny group.'
Source: MIT Technology Review
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