Space tourism is space travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry. Orbital space tounsm opportunities have been limited and expensive, with only the Russian Space Agency providing transport to date.
The publicized price for flights brokered by Space Adventures to the International Space Station aboard a Russian Soyuz spacecraft have been USS 20-35 million, during the period 2001-2009. Some space tounsts have signed contracts with third parties to conduct certain research activities while In orbit.
Russia halted orbital space tourism in 2010 due to the Increase In the International Space Station crew size, using the seats for expedition crews that would be sold to paying spaceflight participants. However, tounst flights are tentatively planned to resume in 2013, when the number of single-use three-person Soyuz launches could rise to five a year [1][2][3][4]
As an alternative term to "tourism", some organizations such as the Commercial Spaceflight Federation use the term "personal spaceflight." Citizens in Space uses the term "citizen space exploration. "[5]