MOSCOW. Jan 18 (Interfax) - Bauman Moscow State Technical University is designing a suborbital ship for space tourists, according to a report prepared for the Korolyov Readings.
"Bauman Moscow State Technical University has been designing a suborbital wing vehicle for several years," the report said.
The tourist spaceship will be based on a plane structure with a high back-swept triangular wing. It will be a re-entry vehicle, the report said.
The university's plans to design the suborbital tourist spaceship were announced in 2009. The university's pro-rector said it would be called the Oduvanchik.
The U.S. companies Virgin Galactic and Armadillo Aerospace and the British company Excalibur Almaz are also designing suborbital spaceships. The manned SpaceShipOne performed three successful suborbital missions in 2004.
A suborbital flight has a ballistic trajectory at altitudes ranging from 80 to 100 kilometers. The spaceship does not reach a near-Earth orbit in such cases. However, the crew and passengers experience zero gravity.