Britain could become the first country to fly a tourist around the moon, after an Isle of Man-based company announced that it will be ready to take passengers on private lunar expeditions by 2015.
Excalibur Almaz will charge wannabe astronauts an average of £100m for a six-eight month journey exploring deep space.
“It is like how private British companies led expeditions to the South Pacific in the 17th century,” said Art Dula, founder of Excalibur Almaz. “We’ve just gone from seafaring to spacefaring.”
The company, run by Americans, chose to be based in the Isle of Man because of the island government’s commitment to the space industry, which ministers forecast will soon make up a third of its gross domestic product. The lack of corporation tax and proximity to London are also advantages.
Excalibur Almaz biggest advantage is its second-hand Soviet spacecraft which has helped the company avoid the laborious process of developing and testing new equipment.
Mr Dula, a long-time space enthusiast, bought the kit from Russia after working as a patent lawyer in the industry. He and his business partner are the only investors in the company, which started in 2005.
The entrepreneur says the company will take passengers deeper into space than competitors such as Virgin Galactic. Sir Richard Branson’s venture will only allow tourists to orbit the earth, though its price is also less stellar, at £200,000.
Tickets for the historic first flight will cost about £150m, with the price falling to about £50m after 10 years. Adventurers will have to submit to six months of full-time training with the Californian company XCorp.
The company will conduct research for universities and pharmaceutical companies and allow other expeditions – including government astronauts from countries like China – to rent the space station.
adapted from The Financial Times
