Roscosmos, Abu Dhabi Discuss Month-Long UAE Cosmonauts Flight To ISS - State Corporation

MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th August, 2018) The Russian Roscosmos state space corporation is holding talks with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on sending an UAE cosmonaut to the International Space Station (ISS) for a month, the corporations press service told Sputnik.

On June 20, the Russian space corporation said that a preliminary deal was signed between the company and the Dubai-based Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center (MBRSC) on the provision of services for the flight of one UAE astronaut to the ISS.

�The flight with the participation of the UAE cosmonaut is scheduled for April 2019. The launch will be carried out with the help of the manned transport spacecraft Soyuz MS-12. Organization of a long-time ISS mission for the UAE for a period of up to a month is also being discussed,� the press service said.

Last month, nine UAE candidates arrived in Russia for medical tests. Two of them - a future cosmonaut and a backup - will be selected for further training that will start in September.