Space Flight Europe-America 500 was a goodwill mission conceived in 1992 as the first private, commercial spaceflight by the

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

TsSKB-Progress Rocket and Space Centre "Progress" (), commonly known as RKTs Progress (), is a Russian joint-stock company under Roscosmos. It is responsible for building and operating the Soyuz family of rockets, which serve as the primary launch vehicles f ...

, a Russian

rocket A rocket (from , and so named for its shape) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using any surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entirely ...

-building company, to increase trade between Russia and USA and promote the use of technology once reserved only for military forces. The idea of a space launch to be carried out in the International Space Year, the 500th anniversary of Columbus's arrival in the Americas, the 35th anniversary of the Earth's first artificial satellite launch, and the 35th Anniversary of the

Treaty of Rome The Treaty of Rome, or EEC Treaty (officially the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community), brought about the creation of the European Economic Community (EEC), the best known of the European Communities (EC). The treaty was signe ...

establishing the European Community belonged to Alexander Bazlov, a

spacecraft A spacecraft is a vehicle that is designed spaceflight, to fly and operate in outer space. Spacecraft are used for a variety of purposes, including Telecommunications, communications, Earth observation satellite, Earth observation, Weather s ...

designer, and was supported by Gennady Alferenko, the President of the Foundation for Social Inventions. The effort was pulled off by the private sector, with the support of the governments from both countries. Money for the launch was raised from a collection of Russian companies who paid the military for the hardware. Bob Walsh, an entrepreneur and humanitarian who helped bring the

Goodwill Games The Goodwill Games were an international sports competition created by Ted Turner in reaction to the political troubles surrounding the Olympic Games of the 1980s. In 1979, the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan caused the United States and other ...

to Seattle, heard of the plan while visiting Moscow in 1991 and agreed to sponsor it in the U.S. He worked with U.S. authorities to clear the way for the capsule recovery and delivery to

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

, which had been a closed city to Russian ships since World War Two. ---pages 346-351 Seattle Times, November 22, 1992 On November 16, 1992, at 0:52 a.m. MSK, a

Soyuz rocket The Soyuz (, meaning "union", GRAU index 11A511) was a Soviet expendable carrier rocket designed in the 1960s by OKB-1 and manufactured by State Aviation Plant No. 1 in Kuybyshev, Soviet Union. It was commissioned to launch Soyuz spacecraft a ...

fired an , 5,152-pound spherical Resurs-500 capsule similar to the one flown by Cosmonaut

Yuri Gagarin Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin; Gagarin's first name is sometimes transliterated as ''Yuriy'', ''Youri'', or ''Yury''. (9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968) was a Soviet pilot and cosmonaut who, aboard the first successful Human spaceflight, crewed sp ...

, from Russia's once-secret

Plesetsk Cosmodrome Plesetsk Cosmodrome () is a Russian spaceport located in Mirny, Arkhangelsk Oblast, near the town of Plesetsk, from which it takes its name. Until 2025 and the commissioning of the Andøya Space, Andøya base in Norway, it was the only operati ...

. The satellite orbited the Earth for seven days before parachuting into the Pacific Ocean about 120 miles off

Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state, in the United States. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels flooded the ...

on the Washington state coast on November 22 at 10:32 a.m. PST. The space capsule was scooped up and brought to Seattle by a 680-foot Russian missile-tracking ship Marshal Krylov. The ship docked at 9 a.m. on November 24 at Pier 42 of the

Port of Seattle The Port of Seattle is a public agency that is in King County, Washington. It oversees the seaport of Seattle as well as Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. With a portfolio of properties ranging from parks and waterfront real estate, to ...

, where it was met by government officials, including Mayor

Norm Rice Norman Blann Rice (born May 4, 1943) is an American politician who served as the List of mayors of Seattle, 49th mayor of Seattle, Washington, serving two terms from 1990 to 1997. Rice was Seattle's first elected African-American mayor. Early l ...

and Washington's Secretary of State Ralph Munro, school children, bands, and local residents as well as 330 Russian dignitaries, business leaders, scientists, journalists, and space officials, including Cosmonaut

German Titov Gherman Stepanovich Titov (; 11 September 1935 – 20 September 2000) was a Soviet and Russian cosmonaut who, on 6 August 1961, became the second human to orbit the Earth, aboard Vostok 2, preceded by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1. He was the four ...

, the second Russian in space, who arrived in Seattle by charter flights. Inside the capsule were 19 neon-orange containers with gifts, souvenirs, business products, artwork, religious icons, messages of peace also few hundred of bills of 1 rouble, the last one from the Soviet Union. Among other things, there were Russian Orthodox Church icons for the Saint Spiridon Orthodox Cathedral; Digswell the Space Dog, a stuffed toy based on a British cartoon character, a crystal sculpture of the

Statue of Liberty The Statue of Liberty (''Liberty Enlightening the World''; ) is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, within New York City. The copper-clad statue, a gift to the United States from the people of French Thir ...

; peace messages from the

Dalai Lama The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣识一切瓦齐尔达喇达赖喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...

, Russian President

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

, and leaders of European nations; a Christmas present for President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton (né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician and lawyer who was the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, ...

; and samples of Russian products. Also, there were two wedding rings from a Russian couple who got married at St. Spiridon Cathedral, after retrieving their rings from the capsule. The space capsule was towed in the Bon Marche holiday parade and was set on display at the

Museum of Flight The Museum of Flight is a private Nonprofit organization, non-profit Aircraft, air and Spacecraft, space museum in the Seattle metropolitan area. It is located at the southern end of Boeing Field, King County International Airport (Boeing Fi ...

at Boeing Field, where it has been residing ever since. In the course of the event, a Russian-American Business Opportunity Conference was held at the Seattle Sheraton, and art and photo exhibits were on display. On

Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is a national holiday celebrated on various dates in October and November in the United States, Canada, Saint Lucia, Liberia, and unofficially in countries like Brazil and Germany. It is also observed in the Australian territory ...

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest Service club, service organizations in the world. The self-declared mission of Rotary, as stated on its website, is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, go ...

members and church groups hosted the Krylov's 450 sailors and the 330 Russian visitors at their homes. Marshal Krylov, a previously top-secret vessel, was open to the public for several days. According to organizers, it was the first time anyone from the general public, including Russian civilians, had been allowed on board.

Entrepreneur exchange program

The flight helped start important social development initiatives, including a Russian-American

entrepreneur Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value in ways that generally entail beyond the minimal amount of risk (assumed by a traditional business), and potentially involving values besides simply economic ones. An entreprene ...

exchange program, operated by the Europe-America 500 Consortium (Russia) and the

International Research and Exchanges Board The International Research & Exchanges Board (IREX) is an international, nonprofit organization that specializes in global education and development. IREX works with partners in more than 100 countries. History IREX was established in 1968 by ...

(USA) to promote the development of small and medium-sized businesses in Russia. The program was coordinated by the Russian Federal Employment Service and the

United States Information Agency The United States Information Agency (USIA) was a United States government agency devoted to propaganda which operated from 1953 to 1999. Previously existing United States Information Service (USIS) posts operating out of U.S. embassies wor ...

. While all citizens of the Russian Federation, irrespective of specialty, occupation, or employment status, who were up to 40 years old, were eligible to apply to an open competition to be selected, unemployed people and women had been given priority. During the course of the program, over 10,000 young people had been sent for 4-6-week

intern An internship is a period of work experience offered by an organization for a limited period of time. Once confined to medical graduates, internship is used to practice for a wide range of placements in businesses, non-profit organizations and g ...

ships in the United States for developing entrepreneurial skills and gaining experience. A great deal of them had started businesses upon return to Russia.

References

Sources

External links

The Museum of Flight

Space capsule recovery photos by Mark Hammergren
{{Russia–United States relations, state=collapsed Spaceflight 1992 in Russia Russia–United States relations