Forget beach clubs and desert safaris. Dubai and the UAE now have something no other destination can offer: a real astronaut training experience, open to anyone with the ambition and the budget to try it.
A Completely New Kind of UAE Experience
Blinc Space, a new private spaceflight venture led by entrepreneur Mac Malkawi, has launched astronaut training and human spaceflight preparation across the UAE. And it is not just for career astronauts — it is designed for space tourists, corporate adventurers, and anyone who has ever looked up and wondered what it would feel like to train for space.
The programme uses the UAE's existing world-class facilities rather than building new ones, making the experience both credible and surprisingly accessible. Malkawi has partnered with AlphaX Holding to position the UAE as a global hub for astronaut training, space technology, and innovation.
What Visitors Can Actually Do
The UAE space tourism training ecosystem spans some of the country's most remarkable locations.
Deep Dive Dubai — already one of the world's most extraordinary aquatic experiences — doubles as a zero-gravity simulation facility comparable to NASA's Neutral Buoyancy Lab. Desert terrain in Mleiha and Shoka provides the setting for geology-based analogue missions. Aerobatic flights and skydiving experiences in Ras Al Khaimah round out the full programme. Classrooms are based in Abu Dhabi, with additional analogue astronaut modules in Sharjah.
Malkawi described the UAE as a gold mine for astronaut preparation. "We're taking what already exists — centrifuges, fighter jets, deep diving facilities — and integrating them into a full training ecosystem," he said.
How Much It Costs and What Is Available
Traditional NASA astronaut training costs around $20 million per year and is available to almost nobody. Blinc Space has changed that entirely.
A full two-year comprehensive astronaut training programme is priced at approximately $500,000 per year. For visitors looking for something shorter, day sessions and week-long camps are available at a fraction of that cost.
"There is an experience for every budget," Malkawi said. "You don't need to commit decades of your life to understand what it feels like to train for space."
Over the coming decade, Blinc Space expects to train more than 250 astronauts, create thousands of specialised jobs, and develop joint research programmes with NASA, ESA, and leading universities worldwide.
Why the UAE Is the Perfect Base for Space Tourism
The UAE already attracts visitors seeking extraordinary experiences, from record-breaking theme parks to desert luxury. Space training adds an entirely new category to that offering — and one that no other destination in the region can currently match.
With experienced astronaut trainers relocating to the UAE to join the programme, Blinc Space is building something permanent, not a pop-up attraction. Action Flight Aviation will operate all airborne training and aviation activities under UAE General Civil Aviation Authority approvals.
For travellers who have done everything Dubai has to offer, this might just be the next thing on the list.
