Russian Federal Space Agency

Another pioneer in private space travel is the Russian Federal Space Agency, which came into being after the breakup of the Soviet Union in the early 1990 s. Although the Russian Federal Space Agency is technically a national agency, it does offer commercial satellite services and is the sole transportation for space tourists traveling to and from the ISS. The services provided by the Russian agency are similar to those that would be provided by private companies when travel aboard space stations becomes more common. 

Roscosmos Russian Federal Space Agency http //www.federalspace.ru/main.php (accessed July 15, 2010). The site provides English-language coverage of news and information on Russia s space program. 

Acknowledgements. This work was financially supported by the European Space Agency (FASES MAP AO-99-052). B. A. N. also gratefully acknowledges financial support from the RFFI, NSC of Taiwan (Joint Project 05-03-90580 HHC a, Project RFFI 03-03-32366) and the grant of the President of the Russian Federation (Leading scientific schools, NSh-789.2003.3). 

---