Medical fitness for commercial suborbital space flights

Commercial flights with "Suborbital Reusable Launch Vehicles (sRLV)" represent an important market for space tourism and will also significantly increase access to weightlessness and space for research and development. In contrast, medical knowledge and space flight experience with persons who do not meet the stringent medical fitness criteria for professional astronauts is negligible. Currently, there is no international legislation or organization to regulate suborbital space flights and only the U.S. has so far issued requirements for medical fitness criteria for manned commercial space flights by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). The FAA guidelines focus on minimizing the risk to the health and safety of crew members or passengers and are based on the informed consent of the "space flight participant" to all risks associated with flight. The acquisition of medical knowledge and experience with non-professional astronauts can prove extremely valuable for the future exploration of space by humans.