MOSCOW. May 3 (Interfax-AVN) - The Myasishchev Experimental Engineering Plant has embarked on developing the AKS-55-5 air launch spacecraft for space tourists, under a contract with the Federal Space Agency.
"The work is conducted under the agreement dated March 2, 2006 and signed by the Russian Federal Space Agency and the U.S. Space Adventures Corporation. It is aimed at developing a suborbital commercial shuttle," Myasishchev Plant Deputy Director for Economics, Finance, and Foreign Trade Alexander Gorbunov told Interfax-Military News Agency on Wednesday.
He pointed out that in 2000-2005 the Myasishchev Plant jointly with the Suborbital Technologies, a subsidiary of Space Adventures, studied the concept of a two-seat spacecraft, based on the existing M-55 high-altitude aircraft.
"The work resulted in building a mock-up of a space module, demonstrated at the EXPO 2005 show in Nagano, Japan," Gorbunov said.
According to him, the research conducted has proved that given the experience, gained by the Russian airspace industry, it is technically feasible to develop a space tourist shuttle with acceptable characteristics.
"At the present time we have to conduct the feasibility study on a five-seat suborbital system (four passengers and a pilot)," Gorbunov said.
He pointed out that the project involved flagship Russian spacecraft developers such as the Mars Design Bureau, the Institute for Medical and Biological Problems, the Keldysh Test Center, the Zvezda Enterprise, and a number of other companies, which had participated in developing the Energia-Buran system.
The Space Adventures Corporation, based in Arlington, Virginia, is famous for its commercial space tourist projects, including flights on Russian fighter jets, zero-gravity flights on the Il-76 flying laboratory, and ISS flights of Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth.