US aerospace giant Boeing has forged an alliance with marketing firm Space Adventure to put tourists into low-level orbit in a futuristic capsule by early 2015.

The announcement is a boost to President Barack Obama’s vision of a private space industry after he scrapped Nasa’s ambitious but costly plans to build a new generation of rockets to return humans to the moon by 2020.

Boeing received $18 million in Nasa funding earlier this year to develop plans for a new capsule, the CST-100, which could transport crews to the International Space Station.

The aerospace giant announced a deal with Space Adventure, a Virginia-based pioneer in space tourism that has already taken seven well-heeled individuals to the ISS, to sell seats in its new capsule.

“By combining our talents, we can better offer safe, affordable transportation to commercial spaceflight customers,” said Brewster Shaw, vice president and general manager of Boeing’s Space Exploration division.

Preliminary plans would see four professional astronauts on each trip, leaving three seats available for space tourists, private companies or US government agencies.