The private company Space Adventures has been organizing its two new civilian missions on board the ISS since 2009. The first will involve a Russian actress and director, the second a Japanese billionaire and his production assistant.
Space Adventures is an American company specializing in space tourism. Between 2001 and 2009, it distinguished itself by sending seven civilians to the ISS by renting seats in Russian Soyuz capsules. These flights then ended following the shutdown of the US space shuttle program, forcing NASA astronauts to integrate Russian vessels to reach the station. In other words, there were then no more places available for rent for the private company.
Since then, things have evolved a lot. NASA has indeed emancipated itself again by transporting its astronauts aboard American capsules. For the time being, only SpaceX has distinguished itself, but the Boeing company will also soon offer the same services with its Starliner spaceship.
So there are now seats available again in the Russian capsules . And naturally, Space Adventures took advantage of it.
On May 13, the company indeed announced the development of two new civilian missions. The first, the Soyuz MS-19 mission, will take off on October 5 with Russian actress Yulia Peresild on board. She will be accompanied by director Klim Shipenko and cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov on the Soyuz MS-19 mission to the ISS. They will stay there a dozen days , time to shoot some scenes for a movie called "Vyzov" ("The Challenge"), co-produced by the Russian space agency Roscosmos.
Peresild and Shipenko will then return to Earth aboard the Soyuz MS-18 capsule, currently docked at the station, together with cosmonaut Oleg Novitsky.
Note that actress Yulia Peresild was not the only contender likely to integrate this mission. Another actress, Alena Mordovina, will eventually train as a substitute, while Galina Kairova, pilot, has been invited by the Roscosmos agency to train to become a professional cosmonaut.
Finally, on the same day, Space Adventures officials also announced the development of a second mission, this time involving billionaire Yusaku Maezawa. If this name means something to you, it is normal. This fashion professional and contemporary art collector will fly to the Moon aboard SpaceX's Starship in 2023 . Incidentally, Maezawa had also invited the public to apply for a place on the ship.
As part of this mission (Soyuz MS-20), the billionaire will be accompanied by a production assistant, Yozo Hirano, and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin. Again, they will stay a dozen days on board the ISS.
