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Soyuz rocket that will carry Japanese space tourists on way to Baikonur Cosmodrome

The Soyuz-2.1a rocket will deliver the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft with the tourists into orbit in December 2021, Roscosmos informed

MOSCOW, October 1. /TASS/. The Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket that will deliver the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft with two Japanese tourists into orbit has been dispatched from Samara to the Baikonur Cosmodrome, Roscosmos said in its statement on Friday.

"Late on October 30, the train with the Soyuz-2.1a rocket blocks and its fairing was dispatched from the Progress Rockets and Space Center (Samara), to the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The Soyuz-2.1a rocket will deliver the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft with Japanese space tourists into orbit in December 2021," the statement says.

The Soyuz MS-20 launch is planned for December 8, 2021, and the flight will last for 12 days. The spacecraft will be piloted by Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin; the crew will also include Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa and his business assistant Yozo Hirano. The crew is already undergoing training in the Gagarin cosmonaut training center.