Prototype of tourist space shuttle unveiled

ZHUKOVSKY, Russia (CNN) -- Right now the C-21 sub-orbital spacecraft is just a full-size model. But in several years the made-for-tourists space vehicle will be ready for flight, according to its makers.

The snub-nosed shuttle is a project of Space Adventures, which helped the first space tourist Dennis Tito arrange a Soyuz flight to the international space station last year.

Tito, a U.S. investor and former NASA engineer, paid a reported $20 million for his ten-day trip. A flight on the C-21 will last about an hour and cost $100,000.

According to Space Adventures, about 100 people already have put down payments on the flights, which are scheduled to begin in 2004 or 2005.

VIDEO CNN's Jill Dougherty takes a look at a Russian company that's preparing to take paying passengers into outer space. (March 15) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

They are "from all walks of life, from all countries, people from Japan, Denmark, the U.S., men and women, young and old. Space is something which is a common theme. It is something people have a passion for," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of the U.S.-based company.

Anderson and other project executives unveiled the C-21 on Thursday in Russia.

Tourists on the C-21 will train for only four days, not the six months required for orbital flights.

The 3.5-ton spacecraft, developed by Russian engineers and paid for by private investors, will be launched on top of a Russian M-55 high-altitude aircraft.

Twenty minutes into the flight, the C-21 will fire its own engine and climb to 100 kilometers (62 miles), the beginning of outer space.

A pilot will sit in the front seat at the controls. The van-sized ship has room for two passengers.

Those taking part in the sub-orbital expeditions will wear spacesuits and spend between three to five minutes in weightless flight.

Is that brief time worth the expense? Shuichi Okubo, a healthcare worker from Nagoya, Japan thinks so. He plans to be on one of the first flights.

Last year he flew a MiG-29 jet fighter. Next he would like more of a challenge, a shuttle flight into space.

"It's very exciting!" he said.

Space Adventures claims there are thousands of people like Shuichi, space tourists with the money and desire to fly.

And through an agreement with U.S. Airways, they could even use frequent flier miles to go to space.

Space Adventures is also assisting South African Mark Shuttleworth in his campaign to become the second paying tourist in space. The Internet tycoon is expected to take a trip to the space station in April.