Moscow: As part of the nation's ambitious
programme of manned space flights, Indian Space Research
Organisation (ISRO) is seeking a Russian spaceship for sending
"space tourists" in orbit, an official said.
"ISRO has applied for acquiring a spaceship for
sending space tourists," Russian space agency "Roskosmos"
spokesman Alexei Krasnov said.
He said the deal would be commercial and two space
travellers could fly in the non-reusable 'Soyuz TMA' ship to
be piloted by a Russian cosmonaut.
Krasnov, however, did not say about the value of the
contract.
"It depends on the route and duration of the flight,
which are yet to be finalised," he said.
According to Russian media "Roskosmos" charges about
USD 35 million for a space tourist's 10-day flight to
International Space Station (ISS).
During President Dmitry Medvedev's maiden India visit
last year Moscow and New Delhi inked a space accord, under
which Russia will help ISRO in training Indian astronauts and
provide know-how for building indigenous spaceship for the
national programme of space flights.
In April 1984 India's first astronaut Sqn Ldr Rakesh
Sharma had travelled in to space aboard the Russian Soyuz T-11
spaceship and worked for a week at the Soviet orbital station
Salyut-7.
Bureau Report
First Published: Sunday, October 04, 2009, 15:25