First private mission set for ISS

[Rick]

The first private manned mission to the International Space Station (ISS) is set to go ahead in 2011, a US space tourism company has announced.

The mission has been agreed between the company Space Adventures and the Russian federal space agency.

A Soyuz spacecraft will be specially manufactured for this mission.

Space Adventures has so far bought seats on Soyuz missions to the ISS for five clients, with the price of a seat costing upwards of $20m (£10m).

More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7449261.stm