The Russian Space Agency is recommending to the Russian Government the launch of a Soyuz spacecraft with two cosmonauts to the Mir space station at the end of March. The Mir has been unmanned since August.
The crew's 45-day mission would be part of the planned programme to prepare the space station for its June de-orbiting. It will be preceded by a Progress tanker launch around 21 January to provide compressed air, provisions and consumables for the crew. A further Progress mission in April or May would be used to complete the de-orbit burn after the cosmonauts' return.
The Energia company, meanwhile, says it has secured $20 million financing from the Cayman Islands-based Gold & Appel investment company to fund an extension of the mission to Mir. The Russians want to keep the space station operational as long as possible. Offers of finance to extend the Mir's life have come from other sources, but the funds have never materialised.
The six months extension would allow the crew to deploy a large radio telescope and to conduct other experiments. Gold & Appel has invested in telecommunications and Internet companies and in the Rotary Rocket venture.
Source: Flight International