MOSCOW. April 9 (Interfax-AVN) - A Japanese citizen may take a Soyuz spaceship to the International Space Station (ISS) this September instead of a Kazakh astronaut, Federal Space Agency head Anatoly Perminov told the Vesti 24 channel.
"A visiting expedition of the Kazakh astronaut was planned for September. Unfortunately, Kazakhstan has officially confirmed the cancellation of this flight due to financial problems. We are thinking about a possible substitute - either a Russian cosmonaut or a representative of Japan," he said.
Despite the economic problems, the Federal Space Agency will meet its action plan for this year, Perminov said.
The next manned flight is planned for May. Citizens of Russia, Belgium and Canada will go to the ISS.
The end of the construction of the Soyuz 2 launch pad at the Kourou spaceport in South America is a key goal for this year, Perminov said. The first Soyuz launch from Kourou is planned for December.
Also, Russia is helping South Korea to build a spaceport. Earlier reports said that the Korean rocket would be launched in the second half of this year.
The Federal Space Agency has about 60 agreements in various areas of space activity, mostly in satellite launches, Perminov said.