STAR CITY /Moscow Region/, August 22. /TASS/. TASS Director General Andrey Kondrashov has issued a TASS press card to Roscosmos cosmonaut Ivan Vagner as he gets set to become the fifth TASS correspondent in space.

"TASS went into orbit for the first time two and a half years ago. We were the first and only media outlet in the world to establish a bureau at the International Space Station. This became possible through cooperation between TASS and Roscosmos. Today, we are taking another important step in this direction. Today, test cosmonaut Ivan Vagner, holder of the Hero of Russia title, received a press card to be TASS’ special correspondent aboard the ISS," Kondrashov pointed out.

The TASS director general emphasized that the TASS bureau in space was an unparalleled educational project that provided people with an inside look into how cosmonauts spend their time at the ISS.

According to Kondrashov, since the project was launched, TASS correspondents aboard the ISS have put out over 600 pieces of content, including videos, photos and text reports. "This work marks an important contribution to efforts to achieve our common goal of promoting the Russian space industry as a leader in this field," the TASS chief noted. Kondrashov suggested Vagner invite astronauts to join his work at the TASS bureau in orbit.

Vagner told reporters that the goings-on aboard the ISS and outside the orbital outpost are always interesting, so he expected that there would be no shortage of news to report on.

A Soyuz-2.1a rocket carrying the Soyuz MS-26 manned spaceship is set to launch from the Baikonur spaceport on September 11. The main crew of the ISS Expedition 72 will include Roscosmos cosmonauts Alexey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner, as well as NASA astronaut Donald Pettit, while the backup team is made of Roscosmos cosmonauts Sergey Ryzhikov and Alexey Zubritsky and NASA astronaut Jonathan Kim.

TASS and Russia’s Roscosmos State Space Corporation signed a memorandum of cooperation on November 17, 2021. The document established a TASS bureau aboard the International Space Station. Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin was the first TASS special correspondent in space, succeeded by Oleg Artemyev and Dmitry Petelin. Oleg Kononenko, deputy chief of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center and commander of the Roscosmos cosmonaut squad, has been serving as TASS special correspondent in orbit since September 15, 2023.