How the collapse of the Soviet Union aided the birth of space tourism

Western billionaires are dominating the race to open up space to fee-paying tourists. However, much of the origins of this new brand of outer orbit globe-trotting lie not in the United States or Europe, but in Russia.

The economic turmoil after the collapse of the Soviet Union helped open space travel to wealthy private individuals — with one of the world’s most advanced space-race programs forced to look for new sources of funding amid perestroika and the fall of Communism.