A Japanese entrepreneur has been approved as the next candidate for a space tourism flight to the International Space Station, the US firm Space Adventures announced on Monday.
Daisuke "Dice-K" Enomoto, 34, who made his fortune in information technology, will become the fourth ultra-wealthy tourist to pay for a ride to the International Space Station (ISS) and the first from Japan.
After being judged medically fit and signing a final contract, Enomoto will undergo cosmonaut training with the Russian Federal Space Agency, the company said in a statement. The entrepreneur's flight on a Soyuz TMA-9 en route to the ISS is scheduled for September 2006.
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"The first phase of training will include cosmonaut theoretical and physical training, along with Russian language tutoring," said Space Adventures, based in Arlington, Virginia, US.
Enomoto works in Hong Kong and was previously executive vice president for the now-troubled information technology firm Livedoor.
Space Adventures made its name by sending US millionaire Dennis Tito into space in 2001. South African Mark Shuttleworth followed in 2002 and American businessman Greg Olsen paid $20 million in 2005 to spend eight days aboard the ISS.
Space Adventures had already announced plans to offer sub-orbital flights for tourists from a commercial "spaceport" planned for the United Arab Emirates.
Japanese entrepreneur Daisuke "Dice-K" Enomoto, 34, is set to become the fourth private citizen in space. The Arlington, Virginia-based company "Space Adventures", which specializes in spaceflight-related travel, announced on March 7 that Enomoto was approved by the Russian space agency as a flight candidate.

Enomoto has now passed the physical examinations necessary to be cleared for training, finished the medical preparation, and signed the contract for the flight. His training with the Russian Federal Space Agency will include physical and aeronautical preparation as well as Russian language instruction.

Enomoto will be the first Japanese person to fly to the International Space Station (ISS). His trip, to take place in a Soyuz TMA-9 rocket, is scheduled for September, with a ticket price of US$20 million.

United States entrepreneur Gregory Olsen returned from the ISS in October 2005; previous space vacationers were American Dennis Tito in 2001 and South African Mark Shuttleworth in 2002.