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Updated August 15th, 2022 at 12:40 IST

Roscosmos to launch Tunisia's first woman to International Space Station in 2024

Roscosmos is planning to launch the first female astronaut from Tunisia to the International Space Station in 2024, said a report by TASS news agency.

Reported by: Harsh Vardhan
International Space Station
Image: AP | Image:self
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Russia is aiming to launch the first woman from Tunisia to the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024, reported Russian news agency TASS. The astronaut will fly to the orbital outpost as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed between former Roscosmos Director-General Dmitry Rogozin and ambassador to Russia, Tarak Ben Salem, in August 2021. Under this agreement, Russia will train the selected astronaut in its training facilities for spaceflights to the space station.

According to TASS News, the announcement was made by a Tunisia-based technology company Telnet Holding's spokesperson after the selection of eight women candidates on August 13, which is celebrated as Women's Day in the country. These eight candidates are currently undergoing medical examination following which six of them will be sent to Russia. In the final stages of the qualification process, Roscosmos will select two candidates, one of which will be part of the ISS crew whereas the other would serve as a backup member. 

(Roscosmos' Soyuz rocket; Image: NASA/GCTC/Andrey Shelepin)

Apart from being the first woman from Tunisia, the selected astronaut would also become the first African representative to launch on a long-duration mission to the space station. Notably, Tunisia would be the second country after the United Arab Emirates to send its astronaut for a long-duration mission to space. As for Russia, it is also tasked with launching an astronaut from Belarus in a bid to strengthen relations with its neighbouring country in the space sector. 

Russia's bilateral space cooperation

With its partnership with Tunisia, Russia will bring the North-African country into the space race. Tunisia, from where the Arab Spring movement originated in 2010, would join the UAE in becoming a pioneer in the space sector from Africa. Apart from Tunisia, Roscosmos is also collaborating with Belarus on the orders of Russian President Vladimir Putin who aims to launch one Belarusian astronaut to space in the fall of 2023. 

Earlier in June, Belarus submitted the names of 29 candidates for the space mission out of which it would select one astronaut for the flight next year. As for the UAE, it recently announced Sultan Al-Neyadi as the first astronaut from the Arab nation who would join the American crew for the ISS mission. Part of NASA's Crew-6 launching in the spring of 2023, Al-Neyadi will be the second UAE astronaut to visit the ISS after Hazza Al Mansoori, but the first to spend six months in space. 

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Published August 15th, 2022 at 12:39 IST

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