BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan: Russian rocket lifted off on Wednesday carrying a Japanese billionaire to the International Space Station, marking the country’s return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from US companies. Online fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa and his production assistant Yozo Hirano blasted off from the Russian-operated Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at … Read more
BAIKONUR, Kazakhstan, Dec 6, 2021 (AFP) – Russia on Wednesday will send Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa to the International Space Station in a move marking Moscow’s return to the now booming space tourism business after a decade-long break. One of Japan’s richest men, Maezawa, 46, will blast off from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan accompanied by … Read more
On Thursday, a booster rocket carrying a Soyuz spacecraft carrying a Russian and a US astronaut bound for the International Space Station crashed mid-flight, forcing the crew to make an emergency landing. US astronaut Nick Hague and Russian cosmonaut Alexei Ovchinin were inside the rocket. Footage from inside the Soyuz showed the two astronauts being … Read more
