Investor Signed Up For Tourist Spaceship.

(From The Moscow Times)

The Federal Space Agency has signed an agreement with an investor to secure financing for an additional ship to help the country cash in on the growing space-tourism boom.

The agency said in a statement Monday that the new Soyuz-TMA craft should be ready by 2011 and would allow them to accommodate two tourists at a time while fulfilling their obligations to the international space station.

"An agreement has been achieved with one investor to begin financing of such a Soyuz with the tentative time of its launch set for 2011," the statement said. "The content of the existing agreements with the investor allows us to hope that this initiative, which comes as a result of the demand on the international market for commercial manned space flights, will extend beyond 2011."

The agency did not identify the investor or disclose financial details.

The craft currently can seat one tourist on trips to the international space station alongside two professional cosmonauts or astronauts. The 10-day journey costs an average of $20 million.

But the decision to build an additional ship could also mean a rise in prices. A Soyuz-TMA would cost around $10 million, and another launch vehicle would require more than $40 million.