THE identity of China's first space tourist-to-be was revealed to the media Thursday (Oct 20th), putting an end to months of speculation.

According to a report by the Shanghai Evening Post, the first space tourist in China's history is Jiang Fang, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Hong Kong Space Tours Corp.

The report said Jiang's unprecedented space trip would not materialize until the fall of 2007.

Jiang, who has already put down a deposit of 1 million yuan (US$120,000) for the space trip in March this year, will have to undergo four days of space training before he is sent to space.

Jiang is said to have signed up for the suborbital spacecraft, whose engines shut down for several minutes when it reaches an altitude of 100 kilometers to enable passengers to experience weightlessness and enjoy views of Earth.

With the orbital spaceflight costing about US$20 million, suborbital flights priced at about US$190,000 would be popular with Chinese tourists, according to media reports.

Jiang's firm has signed a partnership agreement with the US-based Space Adventures, the only private company to have successfully flown clients to the International Space Station.

Among the Space Adventures' clients are the world's first two space tourists to the space station, Dennis Tito and Mark Shuttleworth, in April 2001 and in April 2002 respectively. Their orbital flights are estimated to have cost a cool US$20 million each.

Tito, a California businessman, became the first commercial space tourist when he flew on a Soyuz taxi mission to the International Space Station in 2001. He called his historic trip into orbit as "the best eight days of my life" after he returned.

Tito said the flight was the realization of a dream that dated back to the beginning of the Space Age, and one that did not leave him disappointed. He said if he should hold any spaceflight-related record, it should be "for having the most fun."

Editor: Wing