STAR CITY, Moscow region. May 31 (Interfax-AVN) - The first commercial spaceship will dock with the International Space Station (ISS) next year, and a test flight is planned for the end of 2010, ISS's 25th crew commander Douglas Wheelock (NASA) said at a pre-flight press conference.
The 25th expedition was supposed to handle the docking at first, but plans changed. The flight is delayed until the beginning of next year, he said in answer to an Interfax-AVN question.
The first commercial spaceship will have a test flight by the end of this year. It will pass by the ISS at the distance of 2-2.5 kilometers and Wheelock will give a number of commands to the spaceship.
The COTS1 commercial cargo orbiter will dock with the ISS American segment.