Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa has named “Everyday Astronaut” YouTube video producer Tim Dodd, American disc jockey Steve Aoki and six other people from five nations to accompany him on a six-day trip around the moon in a SpaceX Starship at some future date.

TASS reports that it is theoretically possible to reduce the time it takes to train a non-professional astronaut (aka, space tourists or spaceflight participants) to fly to orbit aboard the Soyuz spacecraft to under the current four months. Paying customers used to spend months in training prior to a flight.

Fresh off spending tens of millions of dollars for a 12-day trip to the International Space Station, Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa wants to make a movie about a moneyless world. Right after spending hundreds of millions flying around the moon. TASS reports: “I want to shoot movies about the no-money world. My explanation is not good so, people cannot understand what I imagine, so maybe I need a movie for […]

VIENNA, Va. (Space Adventures PR) — Space Adventures, Inc., the world’s leading space experiences company, announced the Russian Soyuz MS-20 carrying Japanese entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa (MZ) and his production assistant, Yozo Hirano, successfully landed in Kazakhstan following their spaceflight to the International Space Station (ISS). The duo’s journey lasted a total of 12 days under the command of Cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin.

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — Roscosmos cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin and spaceflight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano on the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft docked to the International Space Station at 8:40 a.m. EST while the station was traveling 260 miles over the Atlantic Ocean. Coverage of hatch opening and welcome remarks will air at 10:15 a.m. on NASA Television, the NASA app, and the agency’s website.

Schedule subject to change without notice. December 7 Launch Vehicle: Atlas 5 (United Launch Alliance)Payloads: STP-6 and several ridesharesLaunch Window: 4:04-6:04 a.m. EST (0904-1104 UTC)Launch Site: Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla.Webcast: www.nasa.gov The U.S. Space Force mission will launch the STPSat-6 satellite and several secondary payloads. STPSat 6 hosts NASA’s Laser Communications Relay Demonstration payload and the Space and Atmospheric Burst Reporting System-3 for the National Nuclear Security Administration. […]

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Roscosmos PR) — Baikonur Cosmodrome continues preparations for launching the Soyuz-2.1a carrier rocket with the Soyuz MS-20 crewed spacecraft. On the previous day, the Soyuz-2.1a/Soyuz MS-20 rocket was rolled out to the Site 31 launchpad (‘Vostok’), after which Roscosmos specialists conducted work on the L-3 day schedule, no issues were revealed.

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Roscosmos PR) — On Thursday, December 2, 2021, the 20th expedition to the ISS crews conducted a check inspection of the Soyuz MS-20 spacecraft. After an introductory briefing, the cosmonauts and spaceflight participants familiarized themselves with the composition, placement of cargo and equipment in the descent vehicle and in the habitable compartment. At the end of the inspection, the crews returned no remarks and thanked all the […]

HOUSTON (NASA PR) — NASA will provide live coverage of key events in the mission of a veteran Russian cosmonaut and two Japanese private citizens set to launch to the International Space Station on Wednesday, Dec. 8, and return to Earth on Sunday, Dec. 19.

BAIKONUR COSMODROME, Kazakhstan (Rocosmos PR) — During each long half-year expedition to the International Space Station, Russian cosmonauts conduct more than fifty experiments in various scientific fields. However, for space medicine, even a short flight is a source of information for the development of means and methods for maintaining the health of crews in zero gravity.