Race To Space

Names and ages: Mike Messick, 35; Scott Fitzsimmons, 38; Werner Zehnder, 49; Susan Zehnder, 51; Sonya Messick, 34; Peter Harrison, 52; Shirley Metz, 49; and Jack Grove, 47

Company name and description: Zegrahm Space Voyages is a division of Zegrahm Expeditions Inc., an adventure travel company that organizes exotic trips to Antarctica, Africa--and space as of December 1, 2001.

Based: Seattle

Founded: 1990

Start-up costs: $200,000

1997 sales: $12.5 million

1998 projections: $14.2 million

Number of employees: 30

Adding their own twist: "We have an advantage because we're already in the travel business," says president Werner Zehnder of the X PRIZE Competition. Passengers are in for an impressive seven-day experience, complete with lectures from famous astronauts and a post-flight celebration back on Earth.

Standing room only: With adventure travel the fastest-growing segment of the travel industry, the future market will likely be crowded. "No doubt there will be competition [in space travel]," admits Zehnder, "so it's just a matter of doing what we do best to stay ahead of our competitors."

Contact Sources

Kelly Space & Technology Inc., (909) 382-2010, http://www.kellyspace.com

X PRIZE Foundation, 5050 Oakland Ave., St. Louis, MO 63110, http://www.xprize.org

Zegrahm Space Voyages, (206) 285-3743, http://www.spacevoyages.com

This article was originally published in the November 1998 print edition of Entrepreneur with the headline: Race To Space.