Posted: Sat, Jul 5, 2003, 9:30 AM ET (1330 GMT)
Space tourism company Space Adventures has signed a preliminary contract with an unidentified person for a Soyuz flight to the International Space Station, Russian officials said late Friday. ITAR-TASS and SPACE.com both reported that Rosaviakosmos officials said the company had signed a contract with an individual to fly to the ISS on a Soyuz flight in late 2004 or 2005. The individual was not identified, although Russian officials said the person was not Russian but from one of the other nations involved with the ISS. Space Adventures last month announced an agreement with Rosaviakosmos and RSC Energia to fly a dedicated Soyuz flight to the station in 2004 and 2005 carrying two space tourists; the reports made it unclear whether this tourist would fly on that flight, or in the third seat of regularly-scheduled Soyuz taxi flights to the station. At the time of the announcement Space Adventures said it had a list of at least ten people seriously interested in such a flight and able to pay the estimated fare of $20 million.

Related Links:

•  AFP article
•  SPACE.com article