SPACE WIRE
Russia could sell space craft to tourist firm: official
MOSCOW (AFP) Jul 22, 2003
Russia could build a space craft and sell it to a private company offering tourists flights to the International Space Station (ISS) but only for a very high price, a Russian space agency official said Tuesday.

"We can sell a spaceship. They have to understand, however, that it will cost not 20 million or 40 million dollars, but much more," said Rosaviakosmos spokesman Sergei Gorbunov, as quoted by the Interfax news agency.

"Russia may build a Soyuz outside the ISS programme. This technical possibility exists, but we have not discussed anything yet or received any offers," he added.

A US space tourism company, Space Adventures, has signed a contract with Rosaviakosmos to fly two more tourists to the ISS in 2004-2005.

Their identities have not been disclosed, but one is a non-Russian who is a national of one of the countries involved in the ISS project.

There are 16 partner countries in the ISS project, including the United States, Russia, the member states of the European Space Agency (ESA), Canada and Japan.

The asking price for a 10-day visit to the ISS is around 20 million dollars (17.6 million euros), a sum only two space tourists -- Californian businessman Dennis Tito and South Africa Internet millionaire Mark Shuttleworth -- have so far been able to afford.

Trips scheduled by US pop star Lance Bass, from the boy band 'N Sync, and former NASA official Lori Garver was called off after they were unable to pay.

The Russian space official also said that it was possible that the two future tourists could fly up to the orbiting space station on a single Soyuz -- leaving just one seat for a professional astronaut on the three-person craft.

"If we find this option acceptable and beneficial for us, the tourists will take seats on board one Soyuz-TMA spaceship. Otherwise they will join different missions. If both tourists fly together, one of them will have to receive training as a flight engineer," he said.

Russia and the United States, the major partners in the ISS project, have clashed in the past over Moscow's keenness to raise money for its cash-strapped space program by selling tourist tickets to the ISS.

Russia sends Soyuz rockets to the ISS every six months on so-called "taxi missions."

In February, Russia announced the temporary suspension of space tourism flights after the US shuttle Columbia disintegrated on its way back to earth from the ISS.

The tragedy forced the United States to rely completely on Russian craft to ferry crew and supplies to the ISS.

SPACE.WIRE