Russia to begin flying astronauts and tourists to the ISS faster from 2020

Author: Alex Freedmann Section: Economy

Issue: December 2018, Vol. 6, № 10

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The State Corporation for Space Activities (Roscosmos) aims to start flying astronauts and tourists to the International Space Station (ISS) by 2020 within a much shorter time than it takes a commercial plane to fly from Moscow to Brussels, Roscosmos General Director Dmitry Rogozin said, commenting on some of the corporation’s key future strategic plans, scheduled for execution in the next 18 months.

The other plans include reviving the practice of launching the so-called “space truck,” codenamed “Progress Cargo Ship,” to the ISS via the double-turn, ultrashort circuit by March 2019, the general director said, noting that flight is expected to take three hours.