MOSCOW, June 30 (Xinhua) -- The selection of Belarusian cosmonauts for a flight to the International Space Station (ISS) has already started, RIA news agency reported Thursday, citing Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos.
The selection will take at least two months and is expected to complete at the beginning of autumn, said Rogozin.
Earlier, Roscosmos said that the National Academy of Sciences of Belarus sent a list of 29 candidates.
The flight to the ISS is scheduled for autumn 2023 on the Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft. During a visit to the Vostochny cosmodrome on April 12, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed Roscosmos to organize a flight of Belarusian cosmonauts into space on a Russian spacecraft, according to the report. ■