Russia ending space tourism
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Russia will not take tourists to the International Space Station after this year because of plans to double the size of the station’s crew from three to six astronauts, the chief of Russia’s space agency was quoted saying in an interview, Associated Press reported.
Roscosmos Chief, Anatoly Anatoly Perminov, reportedly told the government newspaper, Rossiiskaya Gazeta, that US software designer Charles Simonyi – who has already flown to the station – would be the last tourist when he blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in March.
The lucrative Russian space tourism programme has flown six “private spaceflight participants” since 2001. Participants paid in excess of US$20 million for flights aboard Russian-built Soyuz crafts, brokered by US-based Space Adventures Ltd.
Russian Soyuz and Progress craft have been a crucial part of the US$100 billion station’s upkeep and expansion.
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