Sarah Brightman's place on space flight could be taken by her backup

British singer Sarah Brightman. Source: Facebook

Satoshi Takamatsu, the Japanese astronaut backing up British singer Sarah Brightman on the flight to the International Space Station (ISS), could take her now vacant seat on board the Soyuz TMA-18M ship since the pop diva has decided not to fly, a source familiar with the situation told Interfax-AVN on Monday.

"The contract between Roscosmos (Russia's Federal Space Agency) and Space Adventures for the training of space tourist candidates remains in force. Satoshi Takamatsu continues training for the flight," the source said. The final decision regarding Brightman's successor will be taken in the very near future, he said.

The source also said that the British singer had to withdraw from the flight for financial reasons. "One of the sponsors failed her," he said.

Previous media reports suggested that Brightman was to pay about $52 million for the flight.

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