While excitement is building about the increasingly imminent prospect of space tourism following Virgin Galactic's successful test flights in March, the prohibitive $200,000 price tag makes this a final frontier too far for many would be astronauts, so today Skyscanner announces the launch of cheap flights to space.

"Virgin Galactic is doing a brilliant job of creating excitement and raising awareness that space tourism is a real possibility, but this is not a one rocket space race by any means and space travel doesn't have to cost the earth," said Skyscanner co-founder Barry Smith. "The no frills model has transformed air travel over the last decade so it's no surprise a low cost contender has emerged to make this market more accessible to all."

Low cost space travel venture Copenhagen Suborbitals – based in Denmark – is taking a no-frills approach in order to bring the cost of space travel back down to earth. Prices per trip have not been finalised but are anticipated to substantially undercut the Virgin Galactic fare and half price discounts may be offered for one way tickets.

There will be no in-flight service – partly because the spacecraft can actually only accommodate one person – no baggage allowance and no seating – passengers will have to stand throughout the duration of the space flight, although ‘buttock and armpit support' will be available.

"We'd like to call this company the Ryanair of space travel but we can't – you don't have to pay extra for hold baggage. In fact you can't take any baggage at all," said Barry Smith.

He concludes: "It's one small click for the user, but one giant leap for us as a company, opening up opportunities for our business to boldly go into some exciting new market niches. It's even possible we may see some interest from forlorn former Concorde passengers who miss the view on flights from London to New York. Although the flights are currently starting from a barge in the Baltic Sea, and I'm not actually sure where they're landing, so that may not be ideal for them."

Copenhagen Suborbitals is planning a test flight in June of this year, powering a spacecraft into a suborbital trajectory. Budding astronauts can follow progress as the company launches a series of rockets to validate and test performance before launching humans into space.

For more information and pictures of the new budget space carrier visit: Skyscanner Space Travel

www.skyscanner.net