The date for Malaysia’s first astronaut to go to space has been moved to October 6 from September 2 of 2007, media reports reaching here said Friday. The Gagarin Cosmonauts Training Center Deputy Director Igor Rugyaev told this to Malaysia’s Science, Technology and Innovations Minister Jamaluddin Jarjis during the latter’s visit to the center in Moscow Thursday.

The flight has been delayed due to changes in the schedule for the Soyuz rocket, which will transport the spacecraft carrying the Malaysian and Russian crew members to the International Space Station (ISS), said Rugyaev.

Malaysian astronaut candidate Sheikh Muszaphar and back-up candidate Faiz Khaleed are doing very well in training, said Rugyaev.

There had been rumors that the Russians on board the ISS were not pleased with the selection of Malaysian astronauts as they had no aeronautical background, according to reports of Malaysian national news agency Bernama.

However, Rugyaev noted, with Malaysian candidates’ outstanding performance in training, the ISS crew is now ready to welcome them.

The spacecraft will be launched at the Baikanour Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, where the Malaysian Measat-3 satellite was successfully launched last week, Rugyaev added.

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