“We understood that negotiations can begin only after the flight, they have now actually begun. In several directions. The first direction is the training of the emirate no longer a participant in the flight, but an astronaut, ”Rogozin quotes RIA Novosti.
The head of Roscosmos emphasized that the future astronaut "should have specialization, he should at least be a flight engineer."
“If we now enter into a contract - I think that this is most likely the first months of the twentieth year - it means that a new selection of cosmonauts will be required, and the preparation time will be at least a year and a half. Objectively, the earliest is 2022, ”added Rogozin.
Earlier, the chairman of the board of directors of the UAE space agency, Ahmad Belhoul, announced plans to send another emirate astronaut to the ISS.