On the 18th December, the International Association of Space Transportation (ISTA) delegation arrives in Russia at the invitation of the Skolkovo Foundation. This is the organization that provides assistance to the development of the commercial space sector. The visit of the delegation, led by General Secretary of ISTA Ronald Heysterom, takes place in the framework of cooperation between this ISTA and the Skolkovo Foundation.
The parties intend to develop an agreement on the establishment of Skolkovo Research and Experimental Design Centre to develop technologies for suborbital flights. "Commercial space travelling has already become a separate fast-growing industry, said the Executive Director of the Skolkvo Innovation Centre’s Space Cluster, Sergei Zhukov. “It is about creating a fundamentally new space shuttle, specially designed for suborbital flights. To develop this requires a large number of new technologies, Skolkovo is ready to get involved and has been already involved in the past. At this point we rely on the assistance of the International Association of Space Transportation, which coordinates the activities of commercial space around the world".
The delegation will get acquainted with the Yuri Gagarin Training Centre of Cosmonauts in Zvezdny Gordok and the Mission Control Centre in Korolev, and then go to Baikonur, where the manned transport spacecraft "Soyuz TMA-03M" will be launched on December 21th.