Space Adventures has successfully sent very wealthy tourists to the
International Space Station in the past aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
The seats on previous flights have cost the Space Adventures patrons $20
million to $40 million.
On previous Space Adventures trips, only a single seat in the three-man
Soyuz space craft was available. The other two seats were occupied by Russian
crewmembers. All of the previous Space Adventures passengers have been hitching
a ride on missions sponsored by the Russian government that were already
heading to the ISS.
So far, five wealthy patrons have paid Space Adventures to travel to the
ISS, but future flights for Space Adventures travelers are not certain
according to The New York Times. The
head of the Russian Space Agency, Anatoly Perminov, said that the extra seats
for tourists may no longer be available starting in 2010 when the size of the
ISS crew moves from three to six.
Despite the unclear seat availability Space Adventures is looking for investors
to purchase seats on a flight that it is purchasing for itself in 2011. A
pair of seats would be available on the Space Adventures charted Soyuz mission.
The first person to make the $5 million deposit required to reserve a seat on
the flight was Google co-founder Sergey Brin. The full price for the chartered
ISS trip is unknown; the $5 million deposit will be applied to the final price
of the space flight.
Brin said in a Space
Adventures statement, “I am a big believer in the exploration and
commercial development of the space frontier, and am looking forward to the
possibility of going into space.”