First private space flight to ISS to blast off in 2011

NEW YORK: The first private space flight to the International Space Station will blast off in 2011 in a deal with the Russian space agency, the US company Space Adventures said yesterday.

"For successful CEOs, executives, investors, entrepreneurs who know they want to travel to space, and want to invest in a future space mission slot, this is an excellent mechanism to preserve the option for such a once-in-a-lifetime adventure," said Space Adventures CEO Eric Anderson.

Google cofounder Sergey Brin may occupy one of the two available seats for "private space explorers," the company said, noting the seats were "offered to not only individual explorers but also to businesses, organisations, and institutions."

Virginia-based Space Adventures arranges space flights for ultra-wealthy clients, and Brin is a new investor in the company.

Google’s 34-year-old technology president made a $5mn investment as a deposit on a future flight, making him a "Founding Explorer," the company said.

"I am a big believer in the exploration and commercial development of the space frontier, and am looking forward to the possibility of going into space," Brin said in a statement.

"Space Adventures helped open the space frontier to private citizens and thus pave the way for the personal spaceflight industry," he added.

The US company made headlines in 2001 when client Dennis Tito became the world’s first privately funded space flight participant.

Tito, a US national, was the first space tourist on the ISS in 2001, followed by South African Mark Shuttleworth in 2002, American Greg Olsen in 2005, and Anousheh Ansari, an American of Iranian origin, in 2006.

Hungarian-born American Charles Simonyi became only the world’s fifth space tourist in April this year, describing his $25mn trip as "terrific".

Russian officials said the Soyuz used for the 2011 mission would be a specially manufactured craft, and vowed it would not interfere with the running of the space station.

It would be "separate from the other Soyuz vehicles designated for the transportation of the ISS crews," said Alexey Krasnov of the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation.

"This private mission, flying two Space Adventures clients at once, will not interfere with the implementation of the ISS program or the obligations of the Russian space agency; on the contrary it shall add flexibility and redundancy to our ISS transportation capabilities."

The ISS is a $100bn project involving 17 countries including 11 members of the European Space Agency (ESA).

British billionaire adventurer Richard Branson is also trying to get into the race for space travel, unveiling his Virgin Galactic spacecraft in 2006.

Virgin Galactic, which aims to offer space travel to the public, was expected to offer its maiden voyage in early 2009, after a series of test flights. – AFP