The Idea: Space tourism

Stage: Only for the very, very rich

"The punchline is that we are now seeing the birth of the Googles and Apples of the space business," says Peter H. Diamandis, a pioneer in the commercial space industry. "There are a number of companies working on space hotels." At the forefront is Bigelow Aerospace, which launched two prototypes of space hotels and currently plans a commercial space complex by 2014. Called Sundancer, the hotel is expected to have space for up to six people on a short-term basis. A Russian company called Orbital Technologies is also racing to have the first commercial space station. A vision of the station is in the photo above.