Japanese tourists, relatives, friends, and members of Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa's team visit the launchpad in Baikonur, Kazakhstan where a Russian Soyuz rocket launch will send Maezawa and his production assistant Yozo Hirano to the International Space Station, marking Russia's return to space tourism after a decade-long pause that saw the rise of competition from privately held US companies. Their journey aboard the three-person Soyuz spacecraft piloted by cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin will take just over six hours, capping a banner year that many have seen as a turning point for private space travel.

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