Japanese space tourists arrived at the International Space Station on a Russian spacecraft and are expected to return to Earth on the 20th

Source: Xinhua Net

MOSCOW, 8 Dec (Xinhua) -- The Russian State Space Corporation issued a statement on 8 December saying that at 16:40 Moscow time on the 8th (21:40 Beijing time on the 8th), the Russian "Soyuz MS-20" spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misulkin and two Japanese space tourists completed docking with the International Space Station.

According to reports, the three crew members of the spacecraft, Misulkin, Japanese billionaire Maezawa Yusaku and his assistants will stay in space for 12 days and are expected to return to Earth on the 20th.

The Russian National Space Corporation said in a statement that on the morning of the 8th Moscow time, the "Soyuz MS-20" spacecraft was launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. After about 6 hours of flight, it successfully flew to the space station and docked with it.

Maezawa Yusaku, 46, is the founder and art collector of Walk Around Castle, Japan's largest online fashion platform. The specific cost of his and his assistant's space trip was not disclosed to the outside world. In addition, Maezawa Yusaku also plans to fly around the moon in 2023 a spacecraft from the American Space Exploration Technology Corporation, and the trip to the space station is seen by him as a rehearsal.

Russian astronaut Misulkin, who also arrived at the space station, also worked part-time as a space correspondent for Russia's TASS news agency. TASS released a message on November 17 that Missoulkin is tass's first space reporter and will tell his work and life on the space station.

According to TASS, the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft also sent about 162 kilograms of supplies to the space station.