'Tourist' pays €17m to go into space
A former executive of a troubled Japanese internet start-up has been selected to become the nation’s first space tourist.
Daisuke Enomoto has signed the final contract to fly on a modified Russian spacecraft, Soyuz TMA-9, en route to the International Space Station for the trip later this year, American company Space Adventures said.
Mr Enomoto has received approval from the Russian space agency to start cosmonaut training to prepare for the September trip, the company said.
Mr Enomoto, 34, is a former executive of Livedoor Co. The company’s former president and four other executives were arrested last month on fraud charges, but Mr Enomoto left the company before the scandal.
The trip will cost him $20m (€16.7m).
Space Adventures has a partnership with the Russian Federal Space Agency, and previously sent American businessman Dennis Tito, scientist Gregory Olsen and South African Mark Shuttleworth on Soyuz for stays on the space station. Mr Enomoto will be the fourth, the company said.
