The International Space Station orbits Earth at about 17,000 miles per hour. (NASA)

If you’re astronomically daring, kiss this planet goodbye and soar toward space.

You’ll need to muster a lot of bravery and money. Part of a space tourist’s bragging rights is undoubtedly the financial leap.

Space Adventures has sent seven tourists to the International Space Station.

A $50 million round-trip ticket includes about 10 days at this laboratory that floats about 220 miles above Earth. Here, you can take in galactic scenery while the professional astronauts do their thing.

You'll be able to get spectacular views of land and sea from the ISS and might even catch the fiery fluorescent green of an aurora borealis as the station orbits.

Space Adventures also is planning to take two private citizens to fly by the far side of the moon in 2017 or 2018, says company president Tom Shelley. Price tag: $150 million.

Private space explorers have had to hitch a ride on a Russian Soyuz since NASA canceled its shuttle program. But plenty of space vehicles are in development for private use.

For instance, Boeing recently unveiled a new design for the interior of its future CST-100 manned space capsule. The capsule would take up to seven people to low Earth orbit, including the International Space Station. Bigelow Aerospace is developing a space station for spacefarers to visit, too.

Virgin Galactic hopes to have the first official launch of its SpaceShipTwo by the end of 2014. At $250,000 per ticket, the company has attracted about 700 customers so far.

Departing from the Mojave Air and Space Port, a custom-designed carrier aircraft lifts SpaceShipTwo up to heights around 46,000 feet (8.7 miles), at which point the carrier releases the spacecraft and the rocket motor ignites. The spaceship then accelerates to supersonic speed and climbs even higher.

The most recent test flight took two pilots up to 71,000 feet, the highest yet for this spaceship. Commercial passengers will be up and down in about two hours, Virgin Galactic says.

Meanwhile, XCOR Aerospace is developing a suborbital space plane that it hopes to use for rides up to 330,000 feet. Bookings start at $95,000.

More affordably, World View plans to offer $75,000 rides that rise above 99% of the atmosphere – enough to see the blackness of space and the Earth's curvature, says CEO Jane Poynter.

The company hopes to take its first passengers around the end of 2016, but they are still building a spacecraft.

The World View ride will be all about luxury and comfort, Poynter says noting, "What's a self-respective spaceship without a bar?"

If all of these companies follow through, space tourism will boom. But first it has to take off.

U.S. businessman Dennis Tito became the world's first paying space tourist in 2001. (Alexander Nemenov/AFP/Getty Images)