US tour firm offers free trip into orbit

An American space tourism firm has decided on a promotion that beats all travel bargains – the world's first free tickets into orbit.

Interorbital Space Systems is offering 10 seats on board its commercial rocket flights for no absolutely charge.

With the promise of full astronaut training and, for the most daring, a space walk, attractions include extraordinary views of the Earth from a polar orbit 150 miles above the planet's surface.

The offer starts Friday with ads on the eBay website. The seven-day trips – taking off from Eua island, Tonga – begin in 2005. There's only one small catch: the fully refundable retainer fee of £170,000 per guest. But even this upfront payment means an 80 per cent discount on the standard passenger fare of £1.3m. The fare paid by space tourists Mark Shuttleworth and Dennis Tito was a hefty £13m.

"It's our way of rewarding space adventurers who might be daunted by the cost. It's the ultimate adventure travel experience," said the firm's chief executive, Randa Milliron.

The lucky 10 will get 45 days' pre-flight training in the Californian desert and at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Space Training Centre, in Moscow.

Interorbital's goal is to run regular lunar trips "within the next 15 years".