Russian medical commission selects female candidates from Belarus for space flight - Roscosmos

MOSCOW. Dec 28 (Interfax) - The main medical commission has selected candidates from Belarus for a space flight, Roscosmos said on Wednesday.

Recommendations for the selection of the main cosmonaut and backup have been sent to the Belarusian side, it said.

A session of the main medical commission was held in the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center on Wednesday, December 28, the state corporation said.

"It addressed the results of the medical evaluation of six candidates from the Republic of Belarus held in the Cosmonaut Training Center, and recommendations were issued on their readiness for further training for a flight on the Russian spacecraft Soyuz MS," the Roscosmos press service said.

The Belarusian side is expected to select the main cosmonaut and backup for subsequent training in Russia for a space flight to the International Space Station (ISS) in early 2023, it said.

Cosmonaut Training Center head Maxim Kharlamov said on December 24 the name of the candidate from Belarus for a space flight and their backup will become known in 2023.

Roscosmos said on December 20 that six candidates for a space flight from Belarus had arrived at the Cosmonaut Training Center.

Russian President Vladimir Putin at recent talks with Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko confirmed the intention to send a Belarusian cosmonaut to the ISS in 2023.

Belarusian Academy of Sciences President Vladimir Gusakov said the training of a Belarusian cosmonaut in Russia should be completed in September 2023 and the first Belarusian cosmonaut should be a woman.