(Baikonur) A Russian Soyuz rocket carrying a Japanese billionaire lifted off Wednesday for the International Space Station (ISS) from the Baikonur Cosmodrome, a trip marking Russia’s return to orbital tourism.
46-year-old Yusaku Maezawa, who made his fortune in online fashion, his assistant Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Missurkin took off at 7:38 a.m. GMT as scheduled, an AFP journalist noted. The two Japanese space tourists will stay for 12 days in the Russian segment of the oribital station.