Russian cosmonaut unit completes public recruitment

MOSCOW. Dec 21 (Interfax) - The Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center has stopped accepting applications for public recruitment to the Roscosmos cosmonaut unit, the state corporation said on Thursday.

"The acceptance of documents for public recruitment to the Roscosmos cosmonaut unit is now over," the corporation press service said.

Roscosmos announced the start of the fourth public recruitment to the cosmonaut unit on July 10. Any citizen of Russia younger than 35 could apply for the contest before October 30, 2023. Roscosmos said on October 23 it had moved the application deadline to December 20, 2023.

Cosmonaut Training Center head Maxim Kharlamov said on July 13 that the new cosmonaut candidates would be named in March 2024.

According to Roscosmos Executive Director for Manned Space Programs Sergei Krikalev, the corporation would choose four to six cosmonauts by public recruitment.

For now, the Roscosmos cosmonaut unit has 26 members.