Moon Travel Update 2017: Russia Could Fly Tourists To Moon By 2021

The tourist space race is in full swing and Russia could be slated to send several tourists to the moon in just a few years.

Russia’s leading aerospace and rocket company, Energia, may send nine lucky people to its International Space Station as soon as 2021, Newsweek reported Wednesday. Energia’s CEO Vladimir Solntsev announced that the company could be offering spots to paying tourists to fly to the ISS, which would navigate within the moon’s orbit (unfortunately, there would be no actual moon landing).

Energia has put forth hundreds of millions of dollars into its space launch programs for years and has actively participated in the rocket-space industry since 1946. The company’s work on the ISS began in the early ‘90s. The station was developed and signed off by the RSA and NASA in 1993, according to Energia’s website.

According to Solntsev, nine tourist spots on the Soyuz craft bound for the ISS could be up for sale as early as this spring.

“In particular, we are ready to sign with one of such companies an agreement in March 2017,” the CEO had told RIA Novosti, via Newsweek. “The flyby around the moon with space tourists could take place within five or six years after the signing of the contract. The conditions are currently being discussed with potential candidates.”

The news followed an announcement that Russia would be developing a rocket, “Phoenix,” that would assist in creating a research station on the moon, Russian news agency Itar-Tass reported last November. The rocket’s trip was planned for 2025. “This is an opportunity to realize the idea of a scientific lunar base that can be visited and is manned,” Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin had said.