, 28, told Russian officials as he clambered into a white space suit before launch from Russia‘s Baikonur space base in Kazakhstan. The Soyuz carrying Shuttleworth, Russian space veteran Yuri Gidzenko and Italian pilot Roberto Vittori to the International Space Station blasted off on schedule at 0626 GMT. Shuttleworth, an Internet entrepreneur whose ticket cost a reported $20 million, is the second amateur cosmonaut to pay his way into space. U.S. businessman Dennis Tito visited the space station a year ago.

Watching from the viewing platform as the Soyuz roared into a flawless blue sky were several members of Shuttleworth‘s family, including his parents and two brothers. His mother, Ronelle, lifted her spectacles to wipe away tears during the final countdown.

In South Africa, where Shuttleworth had initially been criticised for spending a fortune on a jaunt, Nelson Mandela led the country in toasting him as the world‘s first „Afronaut“. The Soyuz capsule was scheduled to link up with the space station in two days. Shuttleworth, mission captain Gidzenko, 40, and Vittori, 37, a European Space Agency astronaut, are to spend eight days on the space station before returning to earth on May 5.

Shuttleworth‘s eight-month training at Star City outside Moscow was spared the controversy of Tito‘s flight. NASA had feared Tito might endanger himself and the ISS. Shuttleworth is considered by many experts as purely a tourist passenger, despite being set to carry out scientific experiments on board, including HIV/AIDS and genetics tests. But the fees paid by Tito and Shuttleworth are vital to Russia‘s cash-starved space programme. The price tag on a single tourist seat almost covers the cost of a Soyuz launch. The launch took place from Launch Pad One — where the Soviet Union‘s Yuri Gagarin blasted off on his pioneering space flight in April 1961. Reuters