"Space tourists" will not be able to fly to the ISS after 2009

“The ISS crew, as you know, will be increased to six this year. Therefore, there are no opportunities for tourist flights to the station after 2009 ”.

Such words could be heard by the correspondent of Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an interview with the head of the Federal Space Agency Roskosmos, Anatoly Perminov. In addition to stopping the departure of space tourists aboard the ISS, the head of Roscosmos noted the fact that despite the crisis of 2008-2009, Russia does not intend to stop or reduce the number of launches scheduled for this year. Moreover, this year it is planned to launch four manned crews against two in previous years. Also, Anatoly Perminov expressed confidence that Russia will retain the leading positions in the space program - today, about 39% of all world rocket launches belong to us, against 27% of the United States and 16% of China.

Taking into account the launches in the interests of the Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation, more than 38 launch vehicles are scheduled for 2009. The first will take place on January 29 - from the Plesetsk cosmodrome the research satellite Koronas-Foton will fly on its mission of observing the Sun.

via BFM