Space Adventures
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| Space Adventures, Ltd. | |
| Type | {{{company_type}}} |
|---|---|
| Founded | {{{foundation}}} |
| Headquarters | Vienna, Virginia |
| Industry | Aerospace |
| Products | space tourism |
| Website | www.spaceadventures.com |
Space Adventures, Ltd. is the world’s leading space experiences company headquartered in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area with offices in Moscow, Tokyo and Cape Canaveral, Fla., with over 50 authorized agents worldwide. The company pioneered space tourism by assisting the world’s first private explorers, Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Gregory Olsen, Ph.D. and Anousheh Ansari, realize their dream of spaceflight.
Eric C. Anderson is the president and CEO of Space Adventures. Mr. Anderson is a both a businessman, and aerospace engineer; and one of the leading entrepreneurs in the space tourism industry. He co-founded Space Adventures in 1997 with several leading visionaries from the aerospace, adventure travel and entertainment industries and has led the company to several years of profitable success, selling more than $120M in space tourist flights. He has developed and financed over $500 million (USD) in new projects for Space Adventures, including two global spaceports and the first private voyage to the moon, set to launch in 2009. Under Mr. Anderson’s direction, Space Adventures remains the leader of the space tourism industry through the continuous launches of commercial passengers to the International Space Station, the recent offering of a circumlunar mission and through future suborbital spaceflights.
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[edit] Background
The company offers a variety of space experiences such as Zero-Gravity flights, cosmonaut training and actual spaceflights. In May 2001, it sent American businessman Dennis Tito to the ISS aboard a Soyuz spacecraft for a reported $20 million payment, making him the first space tourist in history. South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth did the same in April 2002 becoming the first African in Space. Dr. Greg Olsen became the third private citizen to travel to the ISS in October 2005, followed by the first female space tourist, Anousheh Ansari, who completed her 10-day orbital mission in September 2006. Microsoft founder and creator of Word and Excel, Charles Simonyi, Ph.D., is currently training in Star City, Russia to become the world's fifth space tourist.
[edit] Circumlunar flights
On August 10, 2005, the company announced a project named Deep Space Expeditions Alpha, the first commercial spaceflight to the far side of the Moon. Through Space Adventures’ long-standing partnership with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation, travelers will have the opportunity to experience weightlessness, view the Earth from 250,000 miles away and travel in the footsteps of legendary space explorers Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin when they experience a close-up view of the Moon. Two commercial seats are available for the mission priced at $100 million (USD) each.[1]
[edit] Explorer suborbital vehicle
The company is currently developing a suborbital space transportation system, called Explorer. The vehicle has been designed by Myasishchev Design Bureau, a leading Russian aerospace organization which has developed a wide-array of high performance aircraft and space systems. The Explorer Aerospace System consists of a flight-operational carrier aircraft, the M-55X, and a rocket spacecraft. It will have the capacity to transport up to five people to space and is designed to optimize the customer experience of space travel, while maintaining the highest degree of safety.
[edit] Spaceports
In February 2006, the company annouced it was developing commercial spaceports in the United Arab Emirates and Singapore with plans to expand globally. The UAE spaceport is to be located in Ras Al-Khaimah, located less than an hour drive from Dubai. In addition to suborbital spaceflights, Spaceport Singapore will operate astronaut training facilities and a public education and interactive visitor center. Spaceport Singapore visitors will be able to experience Zero-Gravity flights, G-force training in a centrifuge, and simulated space walks in a neutral buoyancy tank.
[edit] Spacewalks
On July 21, 2006 the company announced that they would begin offering a spacewalk option to their clients traveling to the ISS. The addition of the spacewalk, which would allow participants to spend up to 1.5 hours outside of the space station, would cost about $15 million and would lengthen the orbital mission approximately six to eight days . The spacewalk would be completed in the Russian designed Orlan space suit. The training for the spacewalk would require an extra month of training on top of the six months already required.
[edit] Cosmonaut Training Programs
Space Adventures continues to offer opportunities for private citizens to train alongside some of the world’s top cosmonauts and astronauts. Individuals can float weightless on a parabolic Zero-Gravity flight, simulate spacewalks in an authentic space suit, experience G-force training in a centrifuge, and more.
