Orbital commercial space business
Dennis Tito
Space Adventures' first orbital spaceflight client, and the world's first private space explorer, launched to the ISS in April 2001 on Soyuz TM-32. American businessman Dennis Tito received training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City in Russia. Tito participated in Space Adventures' other programs, including a zero-gravity flight, centrifuge training, and a supersonic jet flight before his orbital flight.
Mark Shuttleworth
Mark Shuttleworth spent 10 days in space. The first African in space, he launched with two crewmates, Russian commander Yuri Gidzenko and Italian astronaut Roberto Vittori. They launched on Soyuz TM-34 from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 25 April 2002. Before his flight, Shuttleworth completed Space Adventures' Orbital Pre-Qualification Program and underwent almost eight months of training and medical exams, including a one-week orientation program at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, Texas. A zero-gravity flight, centrifuge training, and spacecraft communication, guidance, and control system lessons for the Russian Soyuz spacecraft and ISS were also part of his training. Shuttleworth dedicated his flight to educating South African youth and conducting scientific research.
Gregory Olsen
Gregory Olsen completed over 900 hours of training in Star City, Russia, in preparation for his mission. He and his crewmates launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan, on 1 October 2005, aboard Soyuz TMA-7. While aboard the ISS, he participated in a research program prepared by the European Space Agency (ESA) that studied the human body's response to the microgravity environment. Through Amateur Radio on the ISS, Dr. Olsen contacted high school students in New Jersey and New York.
Anousheh Ansari
Anousheh Ansari lifted off on Soyuz TMA-9 on 18 September 2006, from Baikonur, Kazakhstan. Ansari became the fourth (and first female) space tourist. During her eight-day stay onboard the ISS, Ansari conducted four experiments for the European Space Agency, including researching the mechanisms behind anemia, how changes in muscles influence lower back pain, consequences of space radiation on ISS crew members, and different species of microbes that have made a home for themselves on the space station.
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Charles Simonyi
Charles Simonyi is the first repeat orbital spaceflight client of Space Adventures. His first spaceflight mission was in 2007 aboard Soyuz TMA-10, and his second was in 2009 aboard Soyuz TMA-14. Simonyi's goals for both of his missions were to advance civilian spaceflight, assist space station research and involve the world's youth in the science of space travel.
Richard Garriott
Richard Garriott became the first American, and second second-generation space traveler, following his astronaut father Owen Garriott into space in 2008. He is also the second person to wear the British flag in space. He launched for the ISS on 12 October 2008, aboard Soyuz TMA-13. Richard's main objective for his mission was to encourage commercial participation. By fostering the involvement of individuals, companies, and organizations in his spaceflight, Richard hoped to demonstrate that there is commercial potential in private space exploration while furthering the understanding of space. One of his crewmates on his return journey to Earth aboard Soyuz TMA-12 was Sergey Volkov, the first second-generation space traveler, who followed his father, cosmonaut Aleksandr Volkov into space.
Guy Laliberté
Guy Laliberté is the first Canadian space tourist, reaching orbit on 30 September 2009, aboard Soyuz TMA-16. While in orbit, Laliberté promoted the One Drop Foundation and proclaimed his mission as a "Poetic Social Mission". He also conducted the first-ever artistic and social event, "Moving Stars and Earth for Water", to originate from space that took place on 9 October 2009. It was a two-hour event that was hosted by Laliberté and many celebrities such as Salma Hayek, Shakira, and Bono, who participated from Earth. He returned to Earth onboard Soyuz TMA-14.
Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano
Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant Yozo Hirano flew to space in December 2021, on Soyuz MS-20. While in space, Hirano helped document Maezawa's experiences for his social media. The mission was unusual for a Soyuz flight in that it did not deliver any ISS Expedition crew members or serve as a lifeboat, and was entirely devoted to space tourism. Maezawa, who paid for both his and Hirano's seats, also financed the DearMoon project, in which he and several other people will fly on a circumlunar trajectory onboard SpaceX's Starship later in the decade, though it was later cancelled.
Clients who participated in training only
Lance Bass
Esther Dyson (Investor in Space Adventures)
Sarah Brightman
Satoshi Takamatsu
Orbital Mission Explorers Circle
A program was originally set up to allow individuals to reserve seats on future orbital spaceflights and then retain the option to fly to orbit as their schedule allowed with preferential access to mission seats, or they can opt to sell their seat to another private astronaut. Sergey Brin, co-founder and president of technology for Google Inc., became the founding member of the "Founding Explorer" group by placing a US$5 million deposit on a future orbital spaceflight in 2009. As of 2021, Brin has never exercised his option to fly on one of the available seats.
In 2010, Space Adventures established the Orbital Mission Explorers Circle to build a definitive consortium of future private space explorers who share a lifetime goal of orbital spaceflight or the investment therein. Space Adventures has initially created six "Founding Explorer" positions in the Orbital Mission Explorers Circle, each of whom was intended to have priority access to participate in future orbital space missions.
Spacewalk
In 2006, the company announced that it would begin offering a spacewalk option to its clients traveling to the ISS. The spacewalk would allow participants to spend up to 1.5 hours outside the space station and costs about US$15 million. It would lengthen the orbital mission by approximately six to eight days. The spacewalk would be completed in the Russian designed Orlan space suit. The training for the spacewalk would also require an extra month of training on top of the six months already required. As of October 2021, no clients have actually contracted for this service.
Explorer suborbital vehicle
The company, along with Prodea and the Federal Space Agency of Russia, began in the mid-2000s to develop a suborbital space transportation system, called Explorer. The vehicle was to be designed by Myasishchev Design Bureau, a Russian aerospace organization which had developed other aircraft and space systems.
By 2006, the Explorer aerospace system would consist of a flight-operational carrier aircraft, the M-55X, and a rocket spacecraft, having the capability to transport up to five people to space. Space Adventures abandoned the Explorer project in 2010 because "it got too expensive".
