Prince William criticises space tourism

Prince William has criticised space tourism, saying “we need some of the world’s greatest brains and minds fixed on trying to repair this planet, not trying to find the next place to go and live.”

He was talking to the BBC’s Newscast ahead of Earthshot Awards which would be held on Sunday.

The Duke of Cambridge's remarks came after William Shatner - Captain James Kirk of "Star Trek" fame -become the oldest person in space aboard a rocketship flown by billionaire Jeff Bezos's company Blue Origin.

It marked the second space tourism flight for Blue Origin, the company Bezos - the Amazon.com Inc  founder and current executive chairman - founded two decades ago. Bezos flew aboard the first one in July.

Shatner - who embodied the promise of space travel in the classic 1960s TV series "Star Trek" and seven subsequent films - said he had prepared himself for experiencing weightlessness, but was stunned at the dramatic contrast of the beauty of the blue Earth and the blackness of space.