Russia offers Soyuz capsule for tourist flights, even after it is replaced
Capitalism in space: The Russian company that makes the Soyuz capsule has announced that it intends to continue flying the capsule, even after the new Federation replacement capsule is operational.
“I think that the Soyuz has the right to continue its life. As long as there exists a space tourism market and this spacecraft enjoys confidence, this all should be used as essential components,” the CEO said. Energiya is also considering the possibility to upgrade the Soyuz for circumlunar missions. “If we manage to do it faster, we will have a chance to perfect important systems on it, that will be further used on the Federation,” Solntsev noted.
Energiya is now part of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and is controlled by the government. Thus, for it to do this will still require government approval. Will the Russian government allow the old capsule to exist when the new one begins flying? That would be a form of competition, something Russia hasn’t really encouraged since the fall of the Soviet Union. We shall see.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
Capitalism in space: The Russian company that makes the Soyuz capsule has announced that it intends to continue flying the capsule, even after the new Federation replacement capsule is operational.
“I think that the Soyuz has the right to continue its life. As long as there exists a space tourism market and this spacecraft enjoys confidence, this all should be used as essential components,” the CEO said. Energiya is also considering the possibility to upgrade the Soyuz for circumlunar missions. “If we manage to do it faster, we will have a chance to perfect important systems on it, that will be further used on the Federation,” Solntsev noted.
Energiya is now part of the Russian space agency Roscosmos and is controlled by the government. Thus, for it to do this will still require government approval. Will the Russian government allow the old capsule to exist when the new one begins flying? That would be a form of competition, something Russia hasn’t really encouraged since the fall of the Soviet Union. We shall see.
On Christmas Eve 1968 three Americans became the first humans to visit another world. What they did to celebrate was unexpected and profound, and will be remembered throughout all human history. Genesis: the Story of Apollo 8, Robert Zimmerman's classic history of humanity's first journey to another world, tells that story, and it is now available as both an ebook and an audiobook, both with a foreword by Valerie Anders and a new introduction by Robert Zimmerman.
The ebook is available everywhere for $5.99 (before discount) at amazon, or direct from my ebook publisher, ebookit. If you buy it from ebookit you don't support the big tech companies and the author gets a bigger cut much sooner.
The audiobook is also available at all these vendors, and is also free with a 30-day trial membership to Audible.
"Not simply about one mission, [Genesis] is also the history of America's quest for the moon... Zimmerman has done a masterful job of tying disparate events together into a solid account of one of America's greatest human triumphs."--San Antonio Express-News
There won’t be any Russian “Federation” spaceship. That’s just empty talk. Soyuz will remain their last crewed spacecraft. And I’ve heard that astronauts going to the ISS complain about being strapped down during all of the trip, so how much fun is that for a “tourist”? As fun as taking an elevator ride. All the way up, and all the way down again. Without any destination. Could you sell tickets to tourists for that?
Localfluff,
My thoughts exactly. Do they have a service module that would allow the occupants to get out of the fetal position? I wouldn’t spend money to be strapped into that thing for a week straight. I feel for the astronauts that had to take the longer orbital maneuvers to reach the space station. I’m so claustrophobic they would have to sedate me for the whole damn trip! I’m getting anxiety just thinking about it…
Having a little closer look at it, Soyuz astronauts can float around in the orbital module, 2½ meter long nearly spherical. Sounds small for three, but it should be nice one at a time. They remain strapped down during the fast 6 hours trips to the ISS.
I think that the Russians will focus on flying their Soyuz launcher and finishing their new spaceport. But they will in a few years completely lose the markets for both commercial satellite launches and for rocket engines. They will keep Proton only if the military needs it. Maybe some of their human spaceflight know how can be preserved in cooperation with foreign private companies, but that doesn’t seem to be what they are aiming for, so Russian human space flight will likely end permanently with the ISS. Any new development of launchers or spacecrafts seems unrealistic.