Japanese billionaire blasts into space
Published: 03:12 PM,Dec 08,2021 | EDITED : 07:12 PM,Dec 08,2021
The Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft carrying the crew of Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin blasts off to the ISS from the Moscow-leased Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. - AFP
BAIKONUR: A Russian rocket lifted off on Wednesday carrying a Japanese billionaire to the International Space Station, marking the country's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from US companies.
Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his production assistant Yozo Hirano blasted off from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0738 GMT, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.
Their journey aboard the three-person Soyuz spacecraft piloted by cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will take just over six hours, capping a banner year that many have seen as a turning point for private space travel.
Billionaires, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson all made breakthrough commercial tourism flights this year, bursting into a market Russia is keen to defend.
A crowd at the launch site -- including Maezawa's family and friends -- braved freezing temperatures and cheered as the rocket blasted off into the grey sky, leaving a trail of orange flames before disappearing in the clouds.
'This has been a long process. It's so moving. I was about to cry,' said Ryo Okubo, 46, a lawyer for Maezawa's space projects.
'I'm really excited but he's also my friend so I'm worried about him,' a longtime friend of the billionaire, 44-year-old Hiroyuki Sugimoto said.
Among the revellers was a family-of-three who won spots at the launch from out of a million applicants. The brother and sister were holding hand-drawn banners with Maezawa's face inside a sunflower and a picture of a rocket.
After docking at the Poisk module of the Russian segment of the ISS, the trio will spend 12 days on the station. The Japanese tourists will document their daily life aboard the ISS for Maezawa's popular YouTube channel.
The 46-year-old billionaire has set out 100 tasks to complete on board, including hosting a badminton tournament in orbit.
The ISS is home to an international crew of seven people including two Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese astronaut.
Maezawa, who is a space enthusiast, also plans to take eight people with him on a 2023 mission around the moon operated by Musk's SpaceX. He and his assistant are the first private Japanese citizens to visit space since journalist Toyohiro Akiyama travelled to the Mir station in 1990.
Before its hiatus from the industry, Russia had a history of shepherding self-funded tourists to space.
In partnership with US-based company Space Adventures, the Roscosmos space agency previously took seven tourists to the ISS since 2001 -- one of them twice. - AFP
Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his production assistant Yozo Hirano blasted off from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 0738 GMT, an AFP correspondent at the scene reported.
Their journey aboard the three-person Soyuz spacecraft piloted by cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will take just over six hours, capping a banner year that many have seen as a turning point for private space travel.
Billionaires, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson all made breakthrough commercial tourism flights this year, bursting into a market Russia is keen to defend.
A crowd at the launch site -- including Maezawa's family and friends -- braved freezing temperatures and cheered as the rocket blasted off into the grey sky, leaving a trail of orange flames before disappearing in the clouds.
'This has been a long process. It's so moving. I was about to cry,' said Ryo Okubo, 46, a lawyer for Maezawa's space projects.
'I'm really excited but he's also my friend so I'm worried about him,' a longtime friend of the billionaire, 44-year-old Hiroyuki Sugimoto said.
Among the revellers was a family-of-three who won spots at the launch from out of a million applicants. The brother and sister were holding hand-drawn banners with Maezawa's face inside a sunflower and a picture of a rocket.
After docking at the Poisk module of the Russian segment of the ISS, the trio will spend 12 days on the station. The Japanese tourists will document their daily life aboard the ISS for Maezawa's popular YouTube channel.
The 46-year-old billionaire has set out 100 tasks to complete on board, including hosting a badminton tournament in orbit.
The ISS is home to an international crew of seven people including two Russian cosmonauts and a Japanese astronaut.
Maezawa, who is a space enthusiast, also plans to take eight people with him on a 2023 mission around the moon operated by Musk's SpaceX. He and his assistant are the first private Japanese citizens to visit space since journalist Toyohiro Akiyama travelled to the Mir station in 1990.
Before its hiatus from the industry, Russia had a history of shepherding self-funded tourists to space.
In partnership with US-based company Space Adventures, the Roscosmos space agency previously took seven tourists to the ISS since 2001 -- one of them twice. - AFP