Article Posted on : - Mar 25, 2015

The International Space Station.

MOSCOW (AP): Russia officials say they will resume space tourism in 2018 after years of sending into space only professional cosmonauts and astronauts.

Russia had sent seven paying guests to the International Space Station since 2001 before curtailing the programme in 2009.

Sending a tourist has been all but impossible since 2011 when the United States shut down its Space Shuttle programme and had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets in order to get into orbit.

Russia, however, has made an exception for British soprano Sarah Brightman who is due to blast off on September 1.

RKK Energia, a state-controlled rocket manufacturer, said in a quarterly report released Tuesday that it plans to make up for an expected drop in demand for manned flights by resuming space tourism in 2018.