Soviet-Era Spaceships to Fly Commercial Space Missions | Space.com

By Tariq Malik, Space.com, Posted 08/19/09

Link: http://mailview.custombriefings.com/mailview.aspx?m=2009081901aiaa&r=3242532-...

"An international spaceflight company, Excalibur Almaz (EA) Limited plans to launch paying passengers on week-long orbital trips by 2013 using vehicles based on Soviet-era spacecraft built for classifed military space stations. EA  Limited will use several Reusable Return Vehicles (RRVs) designed to fly cosmonauts to the "super-secret" Almaz space stations in the 1970s. "Excalibur Almaz did not reveal its anticipated price per trip in Tuesday's announcement, but did detail plans to update the RRV spacecraft design with modern technology to support independent flights to orbit." Furthermore, this is an "international endeavor with members in Russia, the United States, Europe and Japan. Former NASA astronauts - such as veteran spaceflyers Leroy Chiao and Franklin Chang-Diaz - as well as veteran space officials and cosmonauts are listed among the company's top leadership and advisors."