Space has become closer: How we helped structure contracts for a client

We were recently contacted by Cosmodrome Exposervice, a company that is developing a fascinating and unusual type of tourism. It is not an exaggeration to say that our client specializes in tours that take visitors closer to space. The company organizes tours to the leading Russian rocket and space enterprise Energia named after S.P. Korolev and the Cosmonaut Training Center named after Y.A. Gagarin. Our client not only conducts excursions to all objects, but also allows tourists to dock independently on a virtual simulator and visit a model of the habitable segment of the orbital station. 

For more determined tourists, the company has planned a Zero Gravity tour. Each participant on such a tour will be able to experience the sensations of an astronaut in weightlessness. Furthermore, this will take place aboard a special laboratory aircraft based on the IL-76, rather than on the ground in a cozy room. 

The most exciting in terms of impressions, the longest stay, and the most difficult in terms of logistics and organization is the cosmodrome tour. Cosmodrome Exposervice organizes tours of the Baikonur and Vostochny cosmodromes for its clients. The company offers the opportunity to witness spacecraft launches by combining tour times with the launches of Soyuz-2 rockets at the Vostochny Cosmodrome or Soyuz MS 25 to the International Space Station from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. 

After becoming acquainted with the activities of Cosmodrome Exposervice, we held an initial consultation with the client to discuss his needs and goals. Then we began analyzing previously completed contracts, identifying potential errors and violations and assessing their compliance with the realities of the client's business.
Despite the fact that tourism activities are heavily regulated, in our case, questions arose that needed to be considered. 

In tours organized by our client, the final decision on whether the tour will take place is not up to the organizer or even the tourist himself. In fact, the host party is the state corporation Roscosmos, which oversees and manages the country's space industry. Such interaction introduces its own nuances. 

Tourists, for example, are thoroughly checked before entering most Roscosmos facilities. A visit to the Zero Gravity tour may be cancelled if the tourist fails to pass the medical commission, and a visit to the cosmodrome may be denied by the security service without explanation. All of this had to be taken into consideration and reflected in the contracts. 

Based on the analysis, we made recommendations for improving contract content, suggested ways to protect the client's interests, and proposed measures to avoid potential conflicts and disputes. 

We also offered the client a new type of agreement for group tourists, in the event that a company purchases tours for its employees. A unique feature in this case was the legal entity on the side of the tour service purchaser, with the ability to transfer the risks associated with the final consumer's non-appearance. 

Among other things, after optimizing existing contracts, we changed the conditions for the return of funds received in the event of a tour disruption, including those caused by the customer's fault. We also introduced provisions on the service fee, conditions for replacing the tourist, and technical nuances related to our customer's obligations. After the client approved the new agreements, we assisted him in implementing them. We are currently engaged in negotiations, convincing the client of the importance of retaining the agreement's clauses in our edition or seeking compromise solutions to achieve mutually beneficial conditions for tourists and our client. 

Thus, we have created a contractual binding for the company's activities, considering the specifics of the service provided, the internal regulations of Roscosmos and maintaining the marketing attractiveness of the offer after the consumer has become acquainted with the contract.