Russian space agency launches tourist project to fly around Earth along Gagarin’s route

MOSCOW, February 19. /TASS/. Future space tourists will be able to follow the flight of the world’s first man in outer space Yuri Gagarin and fly around Earth in one rotation under a project launched by Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos, the corporation’s CEO Dmitry Rogozin said on Tuesday. "We are launching the project of flying around Earth along the short ‘Gagarin’ route, which will allow reducing the time of preparing those wishing to see our planet from outer space for the flight," Rogozin wrote in his Twitter. Roscosmos told TASS on Tuesday that the Russian space agency had signed a new contract with the US Space Adventures for the flight of two space tourists who will travel to the International Space Station aboard one spacecraft until the end of 2021. Gagarin was the first man in the world to perform a space flight aboard the Vostok-1 spacecraft on April 12, 1961, making one rotation around Earth. His flight lasted 108 minutes. Read more