Sarah Brightman, singer, dancer and former wife of the successful theatre composer, Andrew Lloyd-Webber, has pulled out of her planned space tourist Soyuz flight to the International Space Station (ISS) which was to take place in September 2015. Brightman cited “personal family reasons” for her decision to withdraw but is reported to have not ruled out applying again for an astronaut ride. It is not disclosed whether Brightman, who once had a music hit with “I lost my heart to a Starship Trooper” and has since became a best-selling classical soprano singer, has lost any kind of financial deposit due to her withdrawal. Tourist trips to the ISS are arranged by the US firm Space Adventures and reportedly cost circa US$50 million.
Meantime, the return of Soyuz TMA-015M, carrying Space station commander Terry Virts, European Space Agency astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti and Soyuz TMA-15M commander Anton Shkaplerov was delayed from 14 May 2015 until to June due to changes in Soyuz launch order, with a Progress cargo vessel being promoted in the launch schedule ahead of Soyuz TMA-017M after the loss of Progress M-027M.
