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Space
Adventures has finalized contracts with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA) for two
commercial seats aboard upcoming flights of the Soyuz TMA spacecraft. The company became
world renown in 2001 with the launch of California businessman Dennis Tito and since then, has
launched four other privately-funded individuals to space.
Space Adventures has
purchased the fall of 2008 Soyuz TMA-13 and the spring of 2009 Soyuz TMA-14 private spaceflight opportunities. Each experience
includes cosmonaut training and over a week in space orbiting the Earth aboard the International
Space Station (ISS).
"With the successful flights of the first and only five private space explorers, we not only created the
space tourism industry, but now, because of the global market demand, we have secured two
additional Soyuz seats and have proposed to the Russian space agency the purchase of seats in 2010, and beyond," said Eric Anderson,
president and CEO of Space Adventures. "The unique provision to Space Adventures of these commercial Soyuz seats has enabled my
team to engage with potential clients from all over the world who have the interest in private spaceflight, the financial capability and the
insatiable desire to explore."
Space Adventures
is expected to announce the identities of the next orbital spaceflight candidates in the coming weeks. "We have finalized the
contracts with those who will fly on future seats, but we are always willing to speak to multiple individuals for a specific seat and encourage
other interested parties to step forward and contact us, because the most willing and committed ultimately gets to go first."
Space
Adventures offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and
around the moon, Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital
spacecrafts. The company's advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones,
Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot, Charles Walker,
Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev.
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