BEIJING, CHINA -- Wealthy Chinese can add an exotic new choice to their growing list of holiday destinations -- space.
China put its first man in space in 2003, but one of the next may be paying for the privilege since a U.S. firm began commercial spaceflight services in the China market in partnership with a Hong Kong firm, newspapers said on Monday.
The first Chinese customer, surnamed Jiang from the booming southern city of Shenzhen, had already put down a deposit of more than 1 million yuan ($120,800) for a zero-gravity thrill ride, the Beijing Morning Post said, quoting an executive from the U.S.-based Space Adventures.
"If everything goes smoothly, he will fly into space in 2006," it said, noting that Jiang had signed up for a short sub-orbital flight that would take him to the edge of the Earth's atmosphere.
Such a voyage was one of the cheaper choices in Space Adventure's portfolio for the Chinese market, which also includes Earth orbits and accommodation on space stations, the newspaper said.
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