Moscow - A new crew for a lengthy stay on board the International Space Station (ISS) was launched Sunday morning from the Baikonur space centre. The Soyuz capsule with Russian cosmonaut Yuri Lontchakov and his US colleague Michael Fincke was launched at 0701 GMT, the Itar-Tass agency reported.
Besides the pair, US businessman Richard Garriott was on board as a tourist, having paid some 30 million dollars for what is to be a one-week stay in space. He earned his fortune as a computer game designer.
The Soyuz is due to dock with the ISS on Tuesday.
Garriott's arrival on Soyuz will mark the first outer space meeting of space-faring dynasties. Garriott's father was an astronaut, as was the father of cosmonaut Sergei Volkov, who is finishing an extended stay on the ISS.
Garriott, Volkov and cosmonaut Oleg Kononenko are scheduled to return to Earth on October 24.
The last two departures from Soyuz had to endure hard landings in the Kazakhstani steppe due to technical problems on Soyuz. But the Russian space agency has promised that everything will run smoothly this time.
The new ISS crew is scheduled to spend 175 days in space, working on scientific experiments and expansion projects to the station. This is scheduled to be the last mission manned by a trio.
It could also be the end of the age of space tourism, since all upcoming spots on the Soyuz have been set aside for professional astronauts.
