Russia eyes Kazakh cosmonaut as space tourist

Russia on Monday proposed sending a Kazakh cosmonaut to the International Space Station in place of a space tourist in September after a Japanese candidate formally dropped out. Satoshi Takamatsu, a Japanese businessman, was gearing up to go to space after signing a contract to undergo training but said Monday that he was not ready for the launch expected in early September.
"The Russian commission has proposed sending a national of Kazakhstan to the ISS," spokesman for the Russian space agency Roscosmos, Igor Burenkov, told AFP. Burenkov said Russia had to agree the plan to send Kazakh pilot Aidyn Aimbetov into space with its ISS partners before making a formal announcement.