He Won Space Travel—And Lost Everything

Edward Walgwe

February 8, 2026
10:43 am

Twenty-five years ago, Carsten Cardoso Marquart won one of the biggest TV prizes in Danish history when he competed against 4,999 other participants in TV 2’s “Den Store Mission” contest. The grand prize was a 90-minute trip 100 kilometers above Earth’s surface, which would have made him Denmark’s first person in space years before Andreas Mogensen claimed that title in 2015. However, despite winning the competition, Carsten never made it to space and ultimately received a cash settlement instead.

A 100-Krone Ticket Worth a Trip to Space

Back in 2000, a 22-year-old engineering student named Carsten Cardoso Marquart saw advertisements for TV 2’s massive space competition. For just 100 kroner, he purchased a ticket that gave him access to the show featuring 5,000 Danish participants. The contest format involved ten episodes filmed in Denmark and broadcast every Friday during prime time throughout 2000.

Eventually, Carsten convinced himself that positive thinking was essential. He decided early on that to have any chance of winning, he needed to tell himself he would definitely win. That mindset carried him through the competition as he advanced through increasingly difficult challenges.

From Denmark to the United States

Each of the ten episodes crowned one winner who qualified for the finale filmed in the United States. Carsten won one of these qualifying rounds, earning his spot among the final ten competitors. The American portion of the competition significantly raised the stakes with harder challenges including skydiving and underwater tasks.

Despite struggling in the first two American programs, everything suddenly clicked for Carsten. His improved performance was enough to keep him in the running. The competition eventually came down to Carsten and one other finalist.

The Fighter Jet Showdown

The contest culminated in a fighter jet challenge where competitors had to simulate a real air battle by trying to shoot each other down with lasers. Carsten lost this portion decisively, 3-0, and thought his chances were over. However, he somehow managed to pull off the overall victory. The finale took place in November 2000 but wasn’t broadcast on television until 2001.

Warning Signs Emerge

As a preview of the space trip, Carsten experienced simulated weightlessness in a plane flying toward the ground. But just as the program ended and Carsten was riding high, things began turning downward.

When alone with the production team in the United States, the crew started using words like “if” and “let’s see.” Despite these warning signs, the Danish press continued building up expectations around his upcoming space journey.

Carsten knew the conditions from the beginning. He understood the trip was based on projections and dependent on various factors. While he believed it would happen initially, as time passed it became less and less likely.

The Company Behind the Prize

The company Space Adventures had purchased the space trip concept, seeing a business opportunity in flying private citizens into space. TV 2 had bought the space journey from Space Adventures, but the company still didn’t know if it was economically viable.

From the start, TV 2 made it clear they would pay the winner the trip’s value of 98,000 dollars if the space journey couldn’t happen. However, the thought of trading the space trip for a bag of cash didn’t appeal to Carsten at all.

The Final Disappointment

In 2006, Carsten finally received the definitive news that he wouldn’t be going to space. Space Adventures no longer saw a business case for offering space trips and dropped the project entirely.

After years of waiting, the news didn’t surprise him much. The excitement had slowly drained away. His mother was very upset, and others were outraged on his behalf about how this could happen. But Carsten couldn’t blame anyone. He had still gotten a great home video and tried some fun things.

Carsten had to settle for the financial consolation prize: 98,000 dollars, which equaled 865,000 kroner in 2006 or approximately 1.3 million kroner in today’s value.

The Money Disappears

In 2006, Carsten told the newspaper Jyllands-Posten that the money would go toward pursuing his space dream later. But that’s not what happened. With youthful recklessness, he began investing the money in stocks right before the financial crisis hit.

Carsten invested the money foolishly and took too many risks. When the financial crisis struck, everything suddenly vanished. His account balance read zero.

A Second Chance in the Sky

The dream of reaching higher altitudes wasn’t completely extinguished. Carsten applied to the Air Force as a fighter pilot and was accepted. Perhaps this idea emerged as a replacement for the lost dream of going to space.

He completed fighter pilot training in Canada, but began performing below standards and was never converted to flying F-16s. When pilots don’t perform well, they get benched. It was determined he should take another job outside the cockpit. Shortly afterward, he also got divorced.

In 2010, Carsten received desk work in the Air Force. His dream of the higher altitudes suffered yet another setback.

Finding Love and Stability

Despite all the disappointments, luck eventually smiled on Carsten Marquart when he met his wife Renata. Actually, this was their second meeting, not their first. Through Facebook, he reconnected with his childhood sweetheart from Brazil, whom he’d met during a student exchange in the mid-1990s but hadn’t contacted in 15 years.

They married in 2012 and moved to Horsens. Together they have two children, and Carsten has two more from previous relationships. According to Carsten, finding his life partner was one of the best things that ever happened because he discovered that when the foundation is solid, other things become much easier.

Now having celebrated their copper anniversary, Carsten feels things have been moving steadily forward since then. While he never made it to space and lost the settlement money, he found something more valuable in the process.