On September 19, 2009 - Excalibur Almaz Ltd, exhibited its Excalibur Almaz spacecraft at an event held in Douglas - the capital city of Isle of Man. The spacecraft, which is a Reusable Reentry Vehicle (RRV) - can sustain spaceflight for duration of 7 days carrying a crew of 3. .
The Excalibur Almaz spacecraft is an updated version of the RRVs which were used in an abandoned Soviet project - Almaz. The Almaz project was an undercover manned orbital reconnaissance mission, which was called off in 1992. The Excalibur Almaz spacecraft is features a reusable heat shield and is fitted with soft landing rockets - enabling it to land on ground.
After its foundation in 2005, Excalibur Almaz Limited took possession of several RRVs and space modules from the Russian space company NPO Mashinostroyenia (NPOM). Presently, the company is modernizing the spacecrafts and the space modules with an intention of conducting affordable and routine space missions that will carry both men and payloads into space.
Excalibur Almaz Limited will extend its services to governments, private institutions and even space tourists. Commercial missions will be conducted using a reusable re-entry spacecraft and an attached space module. The space module can conveniently hold payloads while providing extra space to crew members - for enjoying long space flights. The spacecraft will be made compatible with a variety of launch vehicles. It is expected that commercial space missions will commence from 2013.
Although the concept of space tourism is not new, Excalibur Almaz Limited’s foray into space tourism is made unique by its promise of providing affordable space flights. The affordability factor can be attributed to reusability of spacecrafts – which significantly reduces the operational cost of the mission. The Almaz spacecrafts were subjected to numerous flight tests by the Soviets - hence, the safety of the RRVs that will be used for commercial space flights - is well established.
Companies like Space Adventure Ltd, which are already catering to space tourists – charge exorbitant sums for their services. A spacewalk mission can cost as much as $15 million, which is way to expensive for a common man. The restrictive pricing can be attributed to the use of single-use rockets. As of now, Excalibur Almaz Limited has not quoted a price for an orbital tour, but the company believes that use of RRVs will help in attractive pricing of its space tours.
The company says the spacecraft will be compatible with a number of launch vehicles.
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