Russian engineers are developing a space yacht to send tourists to Earth orbit

The development of the device began two years ago - it is planned that the first flight of the space yacht will

five years later, Begak noted. The ship will fly in an unmanned mode, but "for the peace of the passengers," the pilot will be present in the cockpit.

The shuttle will be able to rise into the air from ordinaryairfields, its maximum speed will be 3.5 Mach. The device will be able to raise tourists to a height of 120-140 km - that is, beyond the Karman line or the boundary of outer space.

We have the opportunity to land on anythe airfield, the apparatus lands like an airplane. We are now counting on the optimal time spent in space, a comfortable flight trajectory, since experience shows that people do not have to be in weightlessness for 10 minutes.

Alexander Begak

The first batch will include three Selena space yachts with a capacity of up to six passengers. It is planned that the flight into orbit will cost from $ 200 thousand to $ 300 thousand.

Earlier, the head of the aerospace company SpaceX IlonMusk said that the new starship will make the flight to Mars accessible to everyone. The cost of the flight he estimated at "less than $ 500 thousand, and, perhaps, cheaper than $ 100 thousand."