3rd Space tourist in the offing Space Tourists Lining Up; Russians Hope $20M Price Tag Will Help Pay For ISS By Anatoly Zak Specl dg7ro -10 ial to SPACE.com posted: 11:00 am ET 18 January 2002 Russia hopes to fly a third space tourist during a mission to the International Space Station, ISS, scheduled for the fall of this year The Russian space agency, Rosaviacosmos, now has a good chance of having a space tourist onboard every Soyuz launch to the International Space Station (ISS), according to their press spokesperson. More than expected "space tourists" have expressed interest in ponying up the $20 million price to train and fly to the orbiting space station, which would benefit the Russians greatly by helping to pay for their share of the ISS. Russia hopes to fly a third space tourist during a mission to the ISS, scheduled for the fall of this year. The new commercial passenger will follow Dennis Tito, a US businessman who made a weeklong ride into orbit onboard a Soyuz spacecraft last year and Mark Shuttleworth, a South-African businessman scheduled to join a similar flight in April. "We are 99 percent sure we will be able to sell this seat [onboard the Soyuz scheduled for launch on November 4] to one of our private customers," said Sergei Gorbunov, a press-chief of the Russian Aviation and Space Agency, Rosaviacosmos. A potential space tourist will be launched into orbit onboard the Soyuz TMA spacecraft along with a Russian commander and a Belgian researcher, who will be flying under a separate commercial agreement between Rosaviacosmos and the European Space Agency. Gorbunov credited a US-based company called Space Adventures for recruiting a new passenger for the November mission. Eric Anderson, president of Space Adventures, confirmed that his company succeeded in recruiting a commercial client for the flight. "It is happening," Anderson said, "We have several serious candidates, and at least one of them is looking very seriously at October 2002 [flight opportunity]." Anderson did not disclose the identity of the prospective passenger. As in the previous two flights, the latest space tourist will ride into orbit onboard a Soyuz spacecraft, which will serve as a lifeboat for the resident crew of the ISS. After delivering the fresh Soyuz and spending a week onboard the station, the commercial passengers and their commander will return to Earth onboard another Soyuz delivered to the outpost in a previous mission, known as a "taxi flight." Russia made extensive efforts to sell the seats onboard the Soyuz in order to offset the lack of federal funds needed to operate the Russian segment of the ISS. According to Anderson, asking price for the tourist flight to the ISS is $20 million dollars. Both Gorbunov and Anderson admitted that $20 million still did not cover all the costs associated with such missions, and that government funds were needed to pay for the rocket booster, delivering the spacecraft into orbit, and other expenses. "That's why these ‘taxi’ missions are such a great opportunity," Anderson said, "the [Russian] government has been obliged through its international agreements to provide Soyuz spacecraft and at the same time they can make up for some of the marginal cost by flying so-called tourists. It is fantastic for the Russians; it is fantastic for the Americans. The space station program is more expensive than we thought it would be. [This] is a great way to subsidize some of that cost, get high-visibility people involved in the space program, and develop some private spokespeople for space." Anderson painted an optimistic picture for the future of space tourism. "After Dennis Tito flew, we were fortunate to find Mark Shuttleworth and throughout that time period -- between Mr Tito's [flight] and signing up Mr. Shuttleworth -- we actually came across a number of other very serious, qualified and interested parties," Anderson said. "We are learning a lot about this market as we go, but we are certain that a much-larger-than-originally-expected number of people are willing to do that. We are talking to a number of individuals right now, looking forward to understanding what the all the available flight opportunities will be, and we are very committed to working with the Russian Space Agency and NASA and doing it properly." Both Gorbunov and Anderson said that disagreements between NASA and Russian space officials on commercial space missions to the ISS, which marred Dennis Tito's flight in April of 2001, have been resolved. Disagreements still remain, however, around the possible space mission of the renowned film director James Cameron (Titanic, Terminator 1 & 2). According to reliable sources in the industry, the main obstacle for the flight was an ambitious program Cameron wanted to accomplish in orbit, including a series of spacewalks onboard the station. "I can't speak for him," Anderson said, "but I know that his interest [in the flight] remains. It is a difficult technical problem, especially for the International Space Station, as opposed to Mir. A Soyuz taxi flight with a very specific mission is one thing, [but it is] quite another to discuss using international assets." Anderson added that all present efforts to fly space tourists are currently limited to the use of Russian Soyuz spacecraft and no attempts have been made to organize similar missions onboard the US space shuttle. "I do think it is a great idea to look at the space shuttle's commercialization down the road, maybe several years down the road. [But] for now, the Soyuz is a proven vehicle, it is commercially viable and its price is known," he said.