.October 7
Space Tourism Firm Signs First Orbital Passenger
The rocket-building firm Interorbital Systems (IOS) announced the sale of its first orbital space tourism ticket Friday, adding that initial test launches could occur in the next 10 months.
Midwestern businessman Tim Reed, of Gladstone, Missouri, purchased the first ticket for a seven-day trip aboard IOS’ Neptune Spaceliner – which is slated to make its first manned launch in 2008 – for about $250,000 under a promotional fare, IOS officials said. The anticipated full price for their orbital service is currently set at $2 million, they added.
The sale of Reed’s ticket allows IOS to build a scale version of its Neptune spacecraft – the Sea Star – which is currently slated to launch within 10 months, said Randa Milliron, CEO of the Mojave, California-based IOS, in a statement.
The Sea Star and Neptune vehicles are currently planned to launch from the Pacific Ocean off the California coast. For Neptune Spaceliner flights, up to five crewmembers would undergo 30 days of training before flying their week-long mission, then return to Earth in a crew capsule designed to splashdown Apollo-like in the ocean.
Reed hopes to conduct a series of nutritional and biological experiments during his flight and also qualifies for a full rebate of his ticket price two years after his orbital flight, which is part of the promotional fare, IOS officials added.
Founded in 1996, IOS is working to develop in-house launch systems for both unmanned and manned spaceflights. In addition to launching off the California coast, the company has plans to expand to the waters around the South Pacific Kingdom of Tonga and two other ocean locations according to flight demands
http://www.space.com/astronotes/astronotes.html
-- Asuka