It looks like we are to witness a tough design competition in the space tourism industry. While Richard Branson had renowned Philippe Starck for his lavish Virgin Galactic Spaceship, the guys over at EADS Astrium have hired Marc Newson, world-famous designer for their new space jet. Newson has been fascinated by space for a very long time and he wanted his dream design project to be a space station.

Newson already has the honor of designing for quite a lot of private jets as well as for Qantas in his booty. But, the Astrium project was a whole new challenge to the fellow as he had to design for a plane that features both jet and rocket engines and will offer weightless flight.

Keeping the interiors simple, in terms of style and content, he emphasized on a design that will let the Astrium’s space tourists to enjoy the breathtaking views of Earth. To accomplish this, a number of windows were installed and volume of the cabin was maximized to add to the experience of zero gravity.

One of the toughest design challenges were the seats, which he made compact, light, and comfortable whether the spaceplane is moving at a conventional angle as an airliner or near-vertically as a rocket. Newson has shown his love for bright colors by coloring the seats canary yellow. He has also given finishing touch to the exteriors of the plane by designing the livery in a palette of yellow, gray and white. Astrium hopes the first flight to take off in 2012 and tickets are expected to cost €150,000 to €200,000.

via IHT