UAE May Cancel Plans To Send Astronaut To ISS In Light Of Recent Soyuz Accident - Source

Daniyal Sohail Published October 13, 2018 | 01:57 AM

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 13th October, 2018) The United Arab Emirates (UAE) may cancel its plans to send its astronaut to the International Space Station (ISS) in the wake of the recent failed launch of the Soyuz spacecraft and the need to reschedule his flight due to it, a source in the aerospace industry told Sputnik on Friday.

"The UAE astronaut will not fly [to space] in April. They will be offered to send their astronaut to space at the end of the next year. But since the contract envisioned other time frames, this may not suit the UAE.

This is subject to talks. If they refuse [to send their astronaut to space], the place in the crew at the end of the next year will be offered to partner astronauts within the ISS for the participation in a long-term mission," the source said.

The composition of the crew which will fly to the ISS the next spring also depended on the UAE decision, the source noted.

"If the UAE agrees to reschedule the flight, the April crew will include two Russian cosmonauts and one US astronaut," the source pointed out.