A Model Soyuz Spacecraft Made by Proach Models Flies to the ISS

They might not be real spacecraft, but Proach Models have flown in space–twice!

The second Proach Model replica spacecraft to travel to space was a tiny scale model Soyuz spacecraft. It was flown to the International Space Station aboard an actual Soyuz craft in October 2008 by video game entrepreneur and explorer Richard Garriot.

Richard is one of our loyal customers and emailed us last December with the exciting news that he had been chosen to fly as the next private citizen in space as a client of Space Adventures. Then, in June 2008, he contacted us to order a number of new models for his collection. It was then that I asked him if there was any way he could take one of our models into space with him.

Richard was very accommodating and said it would be no problem—except the model had to be very small, roughly the size of a thumbnail. It took me a couple of weeks to design and build the tiny model Soyuz.

The model Soyuz measured over an inch long and was approximately 1¼ inches across the solar panels. The model, along with other specially made art pieces, were part of the first in-space art exhibition that Richard staged aboard the orbiting space station.

This flight marked the second time this decade a Proach Model flew in space.

I can’t tell you how humbling it is to know that a model Soyuz made by Proach Models has made the incredible journey to space!