Roman Abramovich plans £150m holiday on the moon

Russian oil billionaire Roman Abramovich has a very unusual plan of going for a weeklong holiday on the Moon.

The owner of private investment company Millhouse Capital, may have to spend a staggering amount of 150 million pounds for travelling 500,000 miles high on the Soyuz spacecraft, designed by Sergey Korolyov for the Soviet Union's space program.

Retired Russian cosmonaut Aleksei Leonov has, however, expressed surety that Abramovich will not change his plans for fear of shelling out huge money.

"I talked to him about it. He wants it very much. I'm sure he'll go," the Sun quoted him as saying.

Abramovich, who is famous outside Russia as the owner of English Premiership football club 'Chelsea', has a fortune worth 11 billion pounds.

Russia's Space Agency is ready to send Russia's richest man on a flight around the Moon after 2010.

"Some press reports have said Roman Abramovich has submitted his candidacy for flying around the Moon for $300 million," Anatoly Perminov, head of the agency, said. "The figure is attractive, and ... we will consider the proposal after 2010."

Perminov said until 2009 all space tourist flights had been signed up.