Russia is 'ready to fight' over space tourism

With its recent comeback to the industry, Russia is ready to make sure it remains a dominant force in space tourism.

With the recent launch of and now safe arrival of Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his assistant to the International Space Station (ISS), Russia is back in business for space tourism. It was the country's first launch of tourists in 12 years.

Russia's space tourism ventures took a backseat in 2011 after NASA retired its space shuttles, choosing to purchase seats on Roscosmos flights to take astronauts to the ISS. These seats went for $90 million apiece, but with the emergence of SpaceX, NASA has turned to it to take astronauts to the ISS.

"We will not give this niche to the Americans. We are ready to fight for it," said Dmitry Rogozin, the Director-General of Roscosmos.

With the financial blow this delivered, Roscosmos will have to return to space tourism to bring back revenue, with a seat now going for an estimated $50-60 million.

"The Russian space industry is reliant on consistent orders for these launches," said Vitaly Yegorov, an industry analyst.