Russia plans to send space tourists to ISS in second half of 2025

MOSCOW. Aug 8 (Interfax) - Glavkosmos, a Roscosmos company, has announced plans to organize a commercial tour to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard a Soyuz MS spacecraft in the third or fourth quarter of 2025.

"The planned start of the flight is the third to fourth quarter of 2025. Launch pad: Baikonur Cosmodrome (Kazakhstan)," the company's website said.

The planned duration of a stay on the ISS is ten days, it said. Pre-flight training will take ten months in total, while active preparations will take four to five months.

"Flight and descent will be effected with a team of professional cosmonauts. There will be two plus one (for a professional cosmonaut) places aboard a Soyuz MS," Glavkosmos said.

Tourists will be required to undergo a medical examination to determine their fitness to fly. Training will be provided in Russian or in English, the website said.

In addition, tourists will have tailor-made spacesuits which they can keep after the flight.

Russia is a pioneer of space tourism. Between 2001 and 2021, its Soyuz craft sent nine commercial flight participants into orbit, one of them twice.

The previous tourist flight to the ISS aboard the Russian Soyuz MS was in December 2021. On that occasion, Japanese tourists Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano spent 12 days aboard the ISS.

In December 2019, the documentation of RSC Energia, which designed the ship, said a Soyuz MS commercial flight cost 2.5 billion rubles.