No preliminary contracts exist, Kostenko said, and he declined to comment on whether memorandums or agreements are signed or not before a final contract is signed. That contract signing can only take place once the United States' space shuttle fleet resumes service this fall, when it can be determined how many seats will be available onboard the three-seater Soyuz-TMA's and when those seats would be available, Kostenko said Friday. International Space Station crewmembers have priority on the Soyuz.

In a later interview, Kostenko said Rosaviakosmos guarantees seats in the second half of 2004 and in 2005 for space tourists. "We can sign final contracts anytime and we will determine final dates of the flights in October-November of 2003," Kostenko said. "The resumptions of the Shuttle flights is only "indirectly connected" to when Space Adventures signs the final contracts."

Space Adventures hopes to launch either one or two tourists in a single Soyuz-TMA either in late 2004 or early 2005 upon signing final contracts with them, Kostenko said.

Space Adventures announced on June 18 that it had secured a contract with Rosaviakosmos to send two tourists abroad a single Soyuz-TMA. Only once the final contract is signed would the names of the prospective clients be released, Kostenko said.

Rosaviakosmos spokeperson Sergei Gorbunov said he "cannot deny" that Space Adventures had signed a preliminary contract with one tourist. "This has been expected," Gorbunov said in a telephone interview.