SpaceDev is reportedly planning an event Wednesday to “unveil” its proposed orbital space plane, Dream Chaser, as part of its effort to win a COTS contract from NASA. The event will be held not at the company’s San Diego-area headquarters but instead in the Denver area, where SpaceDev now has a presence after its acquisition of Boulder-based Starsys Engineering; some of its teammates on its COTS proposal are also located in the area. Wednesday, by the way, will mark the second anniversary of the first suborbital spaceflight by SpaceShipOne, powered by a SpaceDev hybrid engine.

You’d think there would be bigger things to worry about in Lebanon than “creating awareness” about space tourism, yet an article in The Daily Star describes a seminar last week about the potential of space tourism at the Beirut Travel Academy:

“We need to create awareness,” explained Hassan al-Zein, who led the event. “Dubai is going to become the launching center for space tourism in the Middle East, so we need to inform people here about the very real possibility. It has now become affordable.”

While the possibility of travelling at 28,000 km/h “is sure to be of interest to the Lebanese, who are renowned for their love of speed”, the reporter wonders near the end of the article if space tourism is such a wide idea. “After all, how many beautiful spots worldwide have been ruined by the tourism industry?” Good thing that there’s plenty of space to ruin.