CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – When it comes to complaining about poor exchange rates for the U.S. dollar, American tourists traveling to Europe have nothing on tourists headed into space.
The cost of flying to the international space station aboard a Russian Soyuz spaceship has increased from $25 million earlier this year to between $30 million and $40 million for trips planned in 2008 and 2009.
“It’s mostly because of the fallen dollar,” Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures, said Wednesday. His company brokers the trips with Russia’s space agency.
A U.S. dollar currently is worth about 251/2 Russian rubles, compared with 32 rubles in 2002.
Five space tourists have paid $20 million to $25 million to visit the space station via the Soyuz vehicles through trips arranged by Space Adventures. The company announced Wednesday that two more Soyuz seats have been purchased for tourists to fly in 2008 and 2009.
Anderson said the space tourists flying in the two new seats likely would be an American and an Asian, but he offered no details.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
