Space Adventures Claims Two Soyuz Tickets Sold

SPACE TRAVEL

sir, your taxi is waiting

Washington - Dec 17, 2003
The Reuters news agency reported late Tuesday night that the space tourist company Space Adventures has selected two unnamed tourists for Soyuz flights in 2004 and 2005 to the International Space Station.

Both tourists were reported to be Americans including a 38-year-old male Manhattan real estate developer. But no other details were available.

The Soyuz taxi flights to the International Space Station have reportedly cost up to $20 million per person for a 10-day flight.

Previously tourists have flown twice to the $100 billion orbiting "science" facility. First up was former NASA engineer Dennis Tito who left the space agency decades ago to start a highly successful investment company and was eventually able to pay his own way into space.

The last flight was in 2002 when South African IT entrepreneur Mark Shuttleworth was able to secure a more friendly welcome from NASA which had belatedly realized the value in having paying customers on board the Station.

According to the Reuters report, Space Adventures has two additional seats available on flights in 2006 and 2007.

The names of the two new space tourists will be announced in January.

With the US Space Shuttle fleet grounded for another year, Russia's Soyuz spacecraft and associated expendable launcher is currently the only working transport system keeping the Station crewed and supplied.

OPINION SPACE

Citizens In Space, Yes. Publicly-Funded Space Tourism, No

Tokyo - Sep 18, 2003
The embattled Shuttle/ISS complex is hearing some faint support recently from an unexpected direction: certain space tourism advocates. This is not good. For one thing, nobody really knows if the first two visitors fully paid their way. Accounting in space programs is a black art -- even now, nobody knows for sure how much the Apollo missions really cost writes Michael Turner.

Space Exploration And Tourism Need Shuttle To Fly Again

London - Sep 12, 2003
Future space exploration and tourism need Shuttle to fly again, says Professor Book for great Earth views, the Moon and Mars but leave the stars to your dreams

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2016 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.