“A British space-exploration company has revealed its aim to fly the public to the moon from 2015 – providing they have £100m for a ticket.
Isle of Man-based Excalibur Almaz owns a fleet of six proven aircraft that it wishes to use for crewed space missions to the moon and beyond.
In an address at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, Excalibur Almaz’s founder and chief executive officer, Art Dula, outlined the business case that underpins the project, which is based on independent research by the Futron Corporation on the economics of commercial space voyages and lunar missions.
“The lunar mission costs about $150m (£96m) a seat for the first mission”, Dula told The Engineer. “I expect prices will decline after this”.
The company intends to use a combined spacecraft – comprising an “Almaz” capsule and a “Salyut-class” spacecraft — as a transportation system to the moon, asteroids and deep space.
“We can offer this service because we had access to some very well-preserved and very robust heritage equipment from the Soviet space programme”, said Dula. “Specifically, we have four reusable returned vehicles that can fly 15 times each”.
Dula said the first mission will see three passengers launched from the Kazakhstan cosmodrome in 2015, providing targets are met and customers come forward”. – Sam Shead via TheEngineer.co.uk
Isle of Man-based Excalibur Almaz owns a fleet of six proven aircraft that it wishes to use for crewed space missions to the moon and beyond.
In an address at the Royal Aeronautical Society in London, Excalibur Almaz’s founder and chief executive officer, Art Dula, outlined the business case that underpins the project, which is based on independent research by the Futron Corporation on the economics of commercial space voyages and lunar missions.
“The lunar mission costs about $150m (£96m) a seat for the first mission”, Dula told The Engineer. “I expect prices will decline after this”.
The company intends to use a combined spacecraft – comprising an “Almaz” capsule and a “Salyut-class” spacecraft — as a transportation system to the moon, asteroids and deep space.
“We can offer this service because we had access to some very well-preserved and very robust heritage equipment from the Soviet space programme”, said Dula. “Specifically, we have four reusable returned vehicles that can fly 15 times each”.
Dula said the first mission will see three passengers launched from the Kazakhstan cosmodrome in 2015, providing targets are met and customers come forward”. – Sam Shead via TheEngineer.co.uk
Russian Cosmonaut Valery Tokarev poses inside a space craft owned by Excalibur Almaz outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre on June 19, 2012 in London, England. The company today announced their plan to fly people to the moon on what is the 40th anniversary year of the Apollo 17 moon landing. (Photo by Rosie Hallam)
An interior view of a space craft owned by Excalibur Almaz outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre on June 19, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Rosie Hallam)
Jenn Sander from Red Robin PR, wearing a spacesuit once worn by US Astronaut Peggy Whitson, sits inside a re-entry capsule owned by Excalibur Almaz outside the Queen Elizabeth II Centre on June 19, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Rosie Hallam)
20 Jun 2012 10:07:00,
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