MOSCOW — Russia officials say they will resume space tourism in 2018 after years of sending only professional cosmonauts and astronauts into space.

Russia had sent seven paying guests to the International Space Station since 2001 before curtailing the program in 2009. Sending a tourist has been all but impossible since 2011 when the United States shut down its Space Shuttle program and had to rely on Russian Soyuz rockets in order to get into orbit.

Russia, however, has made an exception for British soprano Sarah Brightman who is due to blast off on Sept. 1.

I feel very fortunate to be fulfilling my dream of travelling to Space. I'm excited to say, training is going well! pic.twitter.com/tRqeBRtdTn — Sarah Brightman (@SarahBrightman) March 20, 2015

RKK Energia, a state-controlled rocket manufacturer, said in a quarterly report released on Tuesday that it plans to make up for an expected drop in demand for manned flights by resuming space tourism in 2018.