Opera singer Sarah Brightman's bid to travel in space moves ahead

MOSCOW, May 6 (UPI) -- British opera singer Sarah Brightman's bid to travel into space has cleared a major hurdle, Russia's space agency said Monday.

Roscosmos said it has reached a deal with a U.S. company, Space Adventures Ltd., to go ahead with plans for Brightman to ride into space. She will get a seat on a space flight to the International Space Station in October 2015 if Roscosmos and NASA can agree on the schedule, RIA Novosti said.

"The sides will discuss in the near future the implementation of this project, including Sarah Brightman's preparation for the flight and the program of her activities on board the orbital station," Roscosmos said in a statement.

Brightman, 52, a soprano who has sold 30 million CDs, is an UNESCO artist for peace ambassador.

She made her desire to become a space tourist known last August, and has passed a series of psychological and physical tests to be officially recognized by the Russian space authorities as "a cosmonaut in training," the Russian news agency said.