The State Commission approved the flight of Japanese tourists to the ISS on the Russian Soyuz

"The State Commission for Flight Testing of Manned Space Complexes on December 7, 2021 approved the composition of the main and backup crews of the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft," Roscosmos said in a statement.

The readiness of the launch vehicle and ground infrastructure for the upcoming launch was also confirmed.

The prime crew will include Soyuz MS-20 commander Alexander Misurkin and space flight participants Yusaku Maezawa and Yozo Hirano.

The backup crew included the spacecraft commander Alexander Skvortsov and the space flight participant Shun Ogiso.

The launch of the Soyuz MS-20 manned spacecraft is scheduled for December 8, 2021 at 10:38 Moscow time.