Space Adventures Ltd., based in Vienna, Va., has signed an agreement with Boeing to market passenger seats on a spacecraft expected to be operational by 2015.
Under the agreement, Space Adventures will market passenger seats on Boeing’s Crew Space Transportation-100 (CST-100) spacecraft. Potential customers include private individuals, companies, non-governmental organizations, and U.S. federal agencies other than NASA. Boeing plans to use the CST-100 to provide crew transportation services to the International Space Station (ISS) and wants to include the general public.
Space Adventures has successfully flown seven private citizens on eight missions to the ISS using Russia’s Soyuz spacecraft. Former Microsoft executive Charles Simonyi completed his second mission in April 2009 and became the first repeat customer.
“If NASA and the international partners continue to accommodate commercial spaceflight participants on ISS, this agreement will be in concert with the NASA administrator's stated intent to promote space commerce in low Earth orbit,” said Brewster Shaw, vice president and general manager of Boeing's Space Exploration division.
Boeing and Space Adventures have not yet set a price per seat, but will do so when full-scale development is under way. Boeing continues to work on its design for the CST-100 spacecraft. The spacecraft, which can carry seven people, will be able to fly on multiple launch vehicles and is expected to be operational by 2015.
Space Adventures offers a wide selection of trips that range from weightless flights to orbital missions, flights to the edge of space, and a historic return to the Moon. Space Adventures' clients have spent over 2,000 hours in space, traveling over 35 million miles.
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