Russia's Roscosmos, UAE Agree On New Date Of 1st Emirati Astronaut's ISS Flight - Rogozin

A Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos delegation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed on the new date of the first flight of the UAE astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), the corporation's chief, Dmitry Rogozin, said on Monday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 11th February, 2019) A Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos delegation and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have agreed on the new date of the first flight of the UAE astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS), the corporation's chief, Dmitry Rogozin, said on Monday.

In September, two UAE candidates, Hazza Mansouri and Sultan Niyadi, started their training at Russia's Gagarin Research and Test Cosmonaut Training Center (GCTC) in the Moscow Region. One of them will become the first ever UAE astronaut to fly to the ISS. A UAE astronaut's flight was initially scheduled to take place in spring of 2019, but was postponed due to the Soyuz MS-10 manned spacecraft's failed launch in October.

"At the talks in the Mohammed Bin Rashid Space Centre in Dubai, Roscosmos has agreed with partners on the program of flights of UAE cosmonauts to the ISS.

Their training is already underway at the Zvyozdny gorodok," Rogozin wrote on Twitter.

He, however, did not specify the exact date of the first flight.

Meanwhile, a source told Sputnik that the two sides had reached an agreement that a UAE astronaut's flight on a Soyuz spacecraft would take place in fall. According to the plan of space launches, the launch is scheduled for September 25, but the source said that it might be pushed pack to October.

Earlier, GCTC head Pavel Vlasov said that the flight of the first UAE astronaut was likely to take place in late 2019.

The UAE will pay Roscosmos about $40 million for a week-long flight of its astronaut, a Sputnik source in the Russian space and rocket industry told Sputnik earlier on Monday.