Google co-founder Sergey Brin was clearly not satisfied with just looking at the earth via satellite as the millionaire has put done a $5m deposit on a flight to space, through a new program called Space Adventures.

Brin is the first person to reserve a spot, leaving 5 places available in Space Adventures’ new Orbital Mission Circle, which allows individuals to reserve seats on future orbital spaceflights.

“I am a big believer in the exploration and commercial development of the space frontier, and am looking forward to the possibility of going into space,” said Brin. “Space Adventures helped open the space frontier to private citizens and thus pave the way for the personal spaceflight industry. The Orbital Mission Explorers Circle enables me to make an immediate investment while preserving the option to participate in a future spaceflight.”

In 2001, Space Adventures launched into space Dennis Tito, the world’s first privately funded spaceflight participant. Since then, the company has also launched Canonical’s Mark Shuttleworth as well as Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari and Charles Simonyi.

The company’s advisory board includes Apollo 11 moonwalker Buzz Aldrin; Shuttle astronauts Sam Durrance, Tom Jones, Byron Lichtenberg, Norm Thagard, Kathy Thornton, Pierre Thuot and Charles Walker; Skylab/Shuttle astronaut Owen Garriott; and Russian cosmonaut Yuri Usachev.

Visits to the International Space Station (ISS) will soon be within reach of more private citizens through Space Adventures’ new arrangement with the Federal Space Agency of the Russian Federation (FSA), its long-standing partner. Also announced on Wednesday, the arrangement calls for the launch of the first private mission to the ISS in the second half of 2011.

The trip in October will be a fully dedicated mission of the Soyuz-TMA spacecraft, with two seats available for private space explorers, along with a comprehensive package of mission services including science, education and media program options.

Budding space adventurers will have to undergo the same training as other private space explorers have, but the mission is open to not jut individuals but businesses, organisations and institutions, Vienna, VA-based Space Adventures said.

With the new arrangement, Space Adventures will contribute to increasing launch capacity to the ISS. “This method for growing our commercial partnership with Space Adventures is beneficial for all parties,” said Alexey B. Krasnov of the FSA.

“This private mission, flying two Space Adventures’ clients at once, will not interfere with the implementation of the ISS program or the obligations of the Russian space agency; on the contrary, it shall add flexibility and redundancy to our ISS transportation capabilities,” he said.

Indeed, that is a key point, Harry Lambright, a space policy expert at the Maxwell School of Syracuse University, said.

“As long as they are expanding the capacity and not preventing the use of the Soyuz for some other, public purpose, I think it’s great,” Lambright said. “It’s in everyone’s interest that we use space as much as possible and make it as popular as possible for those who can afford it.”

James Oberg, a retired rocket scientist who is now an author and full-time media consultant, said: “There have always been plenty of options for the Russians to keep making money off of private spaceflight, and this is only one of several”.

“There are already four Soyuz vehicles slated for launch in 2009, compared with the normal launch rate of only two per year”, said Oberg. With the new plan, a fifth one would need to be added by 2011.

Each one takes about 30 months to build, Oberg added. “We’re already in a situation where there are at least four vehicles in various stages of fabrication on an assembly line that used to handle two. This is a significant staffing challenge.”

The key question now is, “can they safely ramp up to this production rate?” Oberg said. “That issue is being seriously questioned in light of the back-to-back failures in the last two Soyuz landings.”

Assuming the production challenges are handled, however, adding a fifth one could help further depress the price of any single Soyuz, and “might even save NASA some money,” he said. An additional benefit could also be derived if the new, special Soyuz is used to transport cargo for NASA or the European Space Agency, for example. “That could help them recoup their launch costs,” he explained.

Overall, Oberg concluded, “I consider this a very positive development.”