Horizon: Space Tourists (BBC2)

IF only you could say, "Beam me up Scottie" and be transported to a distant galaxy. The reality for would-be space travellers is very different and very expensive.

That hasn't stopped Virgin Galactic taking $10m in deposits on tickets to ride into space. Perhaps people mistakenly think they're booking on some sort of internet sex service promising an out-of-this-world love experience.

They've actually paid for a two-and-a-half hour journey in space. Just one thing is preventing them from blasting off - the space ship hasn't been built yet.

The risk to passengers isn't played down with one observer saying that "no doubt there will be fatalities". But, by the time the first commercial service takes off, there'll have been 100 test flights, so it'll be as safe as it could be.

Just the thought of the $200,000 price tag for a day trip into space is enough to make me feel queasy, let alone thinking of what could go wrong.

The Horizon programme demonstrated that certain people will do anything to play at being astronauts. Test pilot Mike Melvill, who flew the first commercial manned craft into space, promised them a life-changing event.

"It was a religious experience. I felt I had reached out and touched the face of God," he said.

A diverse group of rocket men believe that space tourism is here. Entrepreneur Richard Branson has invested a couple of million dollars into Virgin Galactic. His attitude is simple: you don't know if you can do it unless you try.

The first passengers could be taking off within two years. Apollo 9 astronaut Rusty Schweickart said the things he remembered most were the view out of the window and weightlessness (although drinking too much can achieve the same effect, I find).

Ordinary people wanting to go into space is nothing new. When American airline Pan-Am opened a waiting list in 1969 for the First Moon Flight Club, 100,000 people signed up.

Reusable vehicles would massively cut costs, it was thought, leading to dreams of space shuttles and space stations orbiting the Earth.

In 1985, a Californian company offered space travel to the public, planning to launch the first flight on October 12, 1992 - the 500th anniversary of Columbus's discovery of America.

Space entrepreneur Peter Diamand admits space travel is a risky business, both for your finances and your life. Ever since he was a child, his mission has been to go into space and take other people with him.

So when he offered a $10m prize to the first manned craft to get to the edge of space 62 miles above Earth, there was no shortage of people willing to spend millions developing spaceships.

John Carmack, who said he had "a standard geek upbringing", has spent $2m trying to build a rocket. The amount was "a tiny crumb in the aerospace world". That may be so, but you couldn't help thinking that he might be better coming down to Earth and using the money to help solve problems closer to home.