The flight of Aydin Aimbetov to the International Space Station (ISS) will cost Kazakhstan $20 million.
"$20 million payment has not been paid yet, but it is a definite sum," the press service of Kazkosmos said, informing that he will be a flight engineer №2.
Roscosmos chose Aimbetov instead of the British singer Sarah Brightman, who cancelled her flight due to family issues. He could fly to the ISS in 2009, but was cancelled as Kazakhstan recalled its participation in the project due to funding cuts, RIA Novosti reports.
The launch of the manned spacecraft Soyuz TMA-18M is scheduled for September 2015 in Baikonur. The crew consists of, besides Aimbetov, cosmonaut Sergei Volkov from Roscosmos and astronaut Andreas Mogensen from the European Space Agency.
