Russian and American companies team up for space tourism project

Russian and American companies team up for space tourism project

Russian space agency Roscosmos and US company Space Adventures have made a deal to enable tourists to holiday aboard the International Space Station (ISS) two at a time.

On Twitter, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin described the deal as “the first contract for the flight of amateur cosmonauts in a decade’s absence”, since the disbandment of tourists aboard the ISS.

In a statement, the company said the first flight under the combined deal should happen within the next couple of years.

Russia will also be offering space flights around Earth, following the path of the first human in space—Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin, Rogozin said.

Last year NASA announced that Space Adventures—the only company to have delivered private human spaceflight missions to the ISS—was one of 13 companies selected to study the future of commercial human spaceflight in low-Earth orbit (LEO).

“Since the dawn of manned spaceflight, just over 550 people have travelled to space. We are pleased to be able to offer you the opportunity to be next,” Space Adventures said on its website.

Space Adventures had arranged for all seven of their previous space tourists to ISS to fly on Russian spacecraft.

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