It's been three days and Georgio Manenti still can't find words, can't sleep, can't wrap his thoughts or his emotions—any part of himself—around what he's been through.

On June 8, Manenti went to space, one of four crew members on Virgin Galactic's seventh flight to space. Since landing, he has been alternately reliving, rehashing and re-evaluating his time aloft. "You look out and all you see is darkness," he says, searching for words. "Then you look up and Earth is there. The color is so vibrant and alive, and you can see the thin blue layer of the atmosphere, the only thing protecting us from all that endless nothingness, and you realize how small we are and how fragile it is. I wish everyone could experience it."

They may soon. Well, maybe not everyone, but increasing numbers of civilians might be headed for the skies. After a flurry of activity leading up to the pandemic, when one celebrity or another seemed to be hurtling toward the stars every other week, the space tourism industry took a breather. "It may seem that way from the outside," says Ryan Hartman, CEO of World View, "but inside the industry people have been working as hard as ever."

The fruits of that labor are beginning to ripen. In late May, Blue Origin, owned by Amazon's Jeff Bezos, ran its first mission after a two-year hiatus following an FAA review, an engine redesign and a series of safety-related changes. On June 6, Elon Musk's SpaceX completed a successful flight and landing of its Starship, a reusable craft that will one day shuttle people into orbit, with long-term plans circumnavigate the moon and head to Mars.

Balloon companies Space Perspective completed its capsule and will run test flights this summer when its new mission-control vessel, MS Voyager, arrives. World View just opened an office in Australia, while newcomer Zephalto conducted a successful test of its capsule. And EOS-X announced it has secured a $230 million investment and intends to set flight in 2025.

"What's incredible to me is how anyone can do this," Manenti says. "I'm not an engineer or astronaut. I'm a real estate agent who has been very fortunate to have this experience."