Malaysian Astronaut To Blast Off Next October

Malaysia's first astronaut will blast off on October 6 next year, Science Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis said according to a report Friday. Jarjis said the lift-off date was put back by a month due to rescheduling at the International Space Station following a delay in US space shuttle flights. "As a result of the shuttle delays, the Soyuz launch in March was delayed to April and this subsequently pushed back our own launch date," he said, according to The Star daily.
The crew aboard the space station changes every six months.
Malaysia's first astronaut and a back-up candidate, chosen from thousands of hopefuls in a nationwide contest, are currently undergoing training at Moscow's Star City before heading into space on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft.
The project was conceived in 2003 when Russia agreed to send a Malaysian to the space station as part of a billion-dollar purchase of 18 Sukhoi 30-MKM fighter jets.