At 5,000 pounds (2,268 kilograms) and 7 feet (2.1 meters) tall, a FOTON satellite may be the largest item auctioned by Superior Galleries in their seven-year history of hosting biannual space memorabilia sales.

The flown Russian satellite, a highlight of the October 2829, 2000, auction, was so large it could not be on display at the Beverly Hills gallery along with the other 2,400 lots offered. When the hammer fell, the price was equally large at $69,000, but the winning bidder still faces the cost of transporting the craft to its new home.

If you missed the auction but fancy the idea of owning your own spacecraft you may still have a chance. While U.S. spacecraft are transferred from NASA to the Smithsonian after retirement, cash-starved Russia has begun to see benefits to selling its used space hardware including complete capsules.

One such craft, the Vostok 3KA-2, paved the way for the first piloted spaceflight. With similar dimensions to the FOTON (the latter was based on the Vostoks design), the 3KA-2 carried the Russian dog "Zvezdochka," and his mannequin friend "Ivan Ivanovich " into orbit as the final test prior to cosmonaut Yuri Gagarins flight only 20 days later.

The craft, which was first offered for auction in 1996 by Sothebys, will be featured on a new "reality" TV show airing on FOX December 7, 2000. According to the "Ultimate Auction" website, the 3KA-2 is expected to sell for $5,000,000 to $7,500,000.

The Vostok was only capable of carrying one person (and optional dog) to orbit. If your needs require space for two to three, than the Soyuz TM-26 descent capsule might be your choice.

Offered for direct sale by thespacestore.com (through a partnership with Space Media Inc. and Energia), this particular Soyuz flew to Mir on August 5, 1997, bringing cosmonauts Anatoly Soloviev and Pavel Vinogradov to service the then collision-damaged Russian station.

The craft logged a total of 198 days in space, returning to Earth on February 19, 1998. Being marketed as a "pretty cool play house in your backyard" the set price for the capsule is $2.2 million and includes a trip to an upcoming Russian space launch as well as a VIP tour of Star City.