Belarus to submit name of astronaut candidates for spaceflight with Russia by June 15

Belarus will submit the names of two dozen candidates for a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in collaboration with Russia by June 15, said Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of Russian space agency Roscosmos. This follows Russian President Vladimir Putin's promise of partnering with Belarus and sending its astronauts to space in a Russian spacecraft. Putin's promise is no doubt a reward to Belarus for supporting Moscow in its invasion of Ukraine and getting slapped with economic sanctions in the process. 

As for the list of candidates, Rogozin assured that Russia is not meddling in selecting the astronauts and that the selection depends entirely on the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus. "I don’t know yet what candidates are, and I don’t want to know it to avoid our influence on the formation of the list. It entirely depends on the choice of the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus", the Roscosmos chief told Russian news agency TASS. As per the plan, the mission involving a Belarusian astronaut is scheduled for the autumn of 2023 wherein the candidate will launch for a short trip and return in a Russian Soyuz MS-23 spacecraft.

Russian cosmonauts to prepare for the arrival of Belarusian partner

During an interview with TASS, Rogozin also revealed that one of the Roscosmos cosmonauts currently aboard the space station will have to stay longer to prepare for the arrival of a Belarusian astronaut. However, the name of the cosmonaut who has to stay for the MS-23's return has not been confirmed yet. "There has not been an official proposal from the Cosmonaut Training Center yet", Rogozin said, as per TASS. "It will appear only after we receive a list of Belarusian candidates when we understand that our friends from Minsk are aimed at implementing this task". 

It was in April when Putin ordered to organise a spaceflight involving a Belarusian candidate in order to bolster space ties with the neighbouring country. Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko has been highly supportive of Putin as Russia has been cornered by the West, something which also dented Roscosmos's space ties with other nations. Earlier, Rogozin had said that Russia will also advance its relations with China in the space sector with missions to the Moon.