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First South Korean astronaut to blast off in 2008
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    • MOSCOW, May 5 (AFP) May 05, 2006
     South Korea will put its first astronaut in space in early 2008 aboard a Russian Soyuz capsule, the Russian space agency Roskosmos said on Friday.

    "A preliminary agreement has been signed," the Interfax agency quoted Alexei Krasnov, head of manned flights at Roskosmos, as saying.

    The plan is for the astronaut to spend a few days at the International Space Station (ISS).

    Russia agreed in 2004 to build a launch pad in South Korea for space missions. The Moscow-based Khrunichev group, which is to participate in the project, also said it would help South Korea build its first launcher.

    In March, Russia sent Brazil's first astronaut, Marcos Pontes, to the ISS in a Soyuz, accompanied by an American and a Russian. He came home to a hero's welcome on April 9 after spending a week at the station.




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