The Energia Rocket Space Corp. is holding negotiations with about 10 possible candidates for a commercial space mission onboard a Soyuz TM spacecraft, Energia Department for Foreign Economic Relations head Alexander Derechin told Interfax on Monday.
"There is a market for space tourism, but it is not as large as we would like it to be. Now, after the flight of tourist Dennis Tito, it may grow. But so far it is rather small," Derechin said.
"We have not received any requests in connection with Tito's flight. But we are hoping for them," he added.
The limits NASA is trying to impose on commercial flights to the International Space Station (ISS) "does not do any good for the market," Derechin said.
Energia does not plan to wait for the end of negotiations between the Russian Aviation and Space Agency and NASA about legal aspects of the commercial uses of the ISS, he said.
"If there is a flight agreement with a client, Energia will sign the deal," Derechin stressed.
Three months are enough for preparations of a space tourist of the Tito kind, on the condition that a candidate knows Russian and has an engineering background, he said. Tito knows 2,000 technical terms in Russian, he added.
Sources in the Russian Aviation and Space Agency told Interfax that they also receive requests for space flights, but cannot elaborate.
People wishing to travel into space should first apply to the cosmonaut training center and undergo a medical examination at the Institute of Medical and Biological Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
advertisement
