Kazakhstan, Oct 17: Astronauts bound for the International Space Station (ISS) dismissed on Friday any notion that new space power China was a rival and said they would welcome Chinese involvement in the 16-nation project. The crew said it hoped China, which completed its first manned space mission on Thursday, would cooperate in projects including the $95 billion ISS, rather than proceed with its own space station as some analysts have suggested.


"We hope the time when we will cooperate in manned flights, including within the ISS project, is not too far off," Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri told the final news conference before Saturday's launch from Russia's Baikonur cosmodrome.

"But I believe that for the time being there just cannot be any talk of any kind of rivalry with the ISS," he added. "We hope China will progress with confidence, sending more men into space."

The three-man crew is due to blast off aboard their Soyuz TMA-3 ship at 0538 GMT on Saturday from Baikonur in Kazakhstan's vast steppes.

Cash-strapped Russia has assumed prime responsibility for sending manned missions and cargo to the ISS since the U.S. Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated on re-entry in February. Seven astronauts on board were killed and remaining shuttles were grounded.

Space officials said the launch of a Progress cargo rocket, due to be blast off for the ISS in November, could be delayed until January because of funding problems.

"If there is any delay, it will be minimal. For the time being, they have plenty of food and water and other things to feel comfortable on board," a NASA official told reporters.
Kaleri and U.S. astronaut Michael Foale will relieve the current ISS crew of Russian Yuri Malenchenko and American Edward Lu and spend some 200 days in orbit.

The European Space Agency's Pedro Duque, the first Spaniard flying on a Russian-made Soyuz rocket, will accompany Kaleri and Foale to conduct experiments before returning with the outgoing crew 10 days later.

Forty-two experiments, mostly in medicine and biology, will be carried out during Expedition Eight. Bureau Report