Capsule Bought for $2.8 Million

The Vostock 3KA-2 capsule was bought at auction for $2,882,500 at Sotherby’s. This space capsule still bears all the scorch marks made during it’s re-entry into Earth’s atmosphere. It is exactly the same as that used by Yuri Gagarin in the first… ever manned space flight in 1961. This model was used as one of the test flight’s before that historic mission – and deserves a place in Russian history, which is exactly what it is going to get now.

It was purchased by Evegny Yurchenko, the chairman of investment fund AS Popov. He is, he says, looking forward to bringing the space capsule back to Russia.

“Until now, the Vostok 3KA-2 space capsule was the only one of its kind outside of Russia,” Yuchenko said.

“With the support and participation of Sotheby’s I will be able to bring it home … I hope that Vostok will take its rightful place in one of the national museums devoted to the history of the formation of the Russian space program,” he added.

The Vostock capsule was expected to raise anywhere between $2 million and $10 million and followed on from Sotherby’s biannual New York Russian art auction. It is not yet known where the space capsule will end up once it reaches Russia.