VIENNA, Va., April 28 /PRNewswire/ -- On this day, five years ago, Space Adventures, Ltd.'s client, Dennis Tito, became the world's first commercial passenger to launch to space marking the beginning of the space tourism industry. Since then, Space Adventures' efforts in offering commercial seats to the public have resulted in $120 million (USD) worth of orbital spaceflight sales.

"Dennis had the courage, will and adventurous spirit needed to realize his dream of spaceflight," said Eric Anderson, president and CEO of Space Adventures. "We, at Space Adventures, are proud of our influence in the opening of the space frontier. The $120 million (USD) in orbital spaceflights sold is proof positive that the commercial space travel industry is well underway and will only continue to grow."

The Chairman, CEO and co-founder of Wilshire Associates always wanted to fly in space since his days as a National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) engineer three decades ago. Mr. Tito felt that his flight "was the ultimate exploration experience. It was a privilege to be involved in the first mission of this kind and to lead the way for other private space explorers to fulfill their dream too."

Mark Shuttleworth and Greg Olsen followed in Mr. Tito's footsteps when they subsequently launched to space, and the list of private space explorer candidates continues to grow. Daisuke (Dice-K) Enomoto is training in preparation for his expedition this September, and Charles Simonyi is currently planning his spaceflight mission.

Space Adventures, the only company to have successfully launched private explorers to space, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with offices in Cape Canaveral, Fla., Moscow and Tokyo. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for orbital spaceflight missions to the ISS, commercial missions around the moon, Zero-Gravity and MiG flights, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecrafts. The company's advisory board comprises Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin, shuttle astronauts Kathy Thornton, Robert (Hoot) Gibson, Charles Walker, Norm Thagard, Sam Durrance, Byron Lichtenberg, Pierre Thuot and Skylab astronaut Owen Garriott.

For more information, please visit http://www.spaceadventures.com/.

CONTACT: Erin Lundberg of Space Adventures, Ltd., +1-703-524-7172, x546,
Fax: +1-703-524-7176, elundberg@spaceadventures.com

Web site: http://www.spaceadventures.com/