According to an article in The China Post Roskosmos chairman Anatoly Perminov says Russia will be halting their space tourism programme after 2010. Because of the expansion of the International Space Station ( ISS), the seats available for tourists will go to permanent crew.

This signals the end of space tourism as we currently know it: orbital flight via the Soyuz space capsule.

Where is the rainbow in this cloudy sky?

The programme proved, in the words of Field of Dreams, “if you build it they will come.” Five tourists paid approximately $20 million each for the privilege of visiting the ISS. This demonstrates a viable business plan. And it should encourage other companies to fill the void that Roskosmos is leaving, first by developing suborbital spaceflight and working their way upward.

In actuality, Roskosmos built it and only a few came….but if the price of tickets were reduced, the number of tourists would increase exponentially.

Ironically, the news comes hot on the heels of Cosmonaut’s Day, also known as Yuri’s Night, which celebrates the advent of manned spaceflight in Russia.