"Simonyi is seriously determined for the flight and he is ready for thorough and gradual preparations," a training center spokesperson said, adding that the first stage of the course would take three weeks.

The source said Simonyi, who Forbes magazine put in 746th place in its 2006 list of the world's richest people, was remarkably different in his attitude to the flight from Daisuke Enomoto, a Japanese businessman who had failed his medical and appeared to be embroiled in a financial scandal in his homeland.

Tehran-born U.S. citizen Anousheh Ansari has replaced Enomoto on the 14th mission to the ISS, which is to be launched September 18 on board Soyuz TMA-9. She will become the first female space tourist after two American men and one South African. Ansari's predecessors in space are believed to have paid around $20 million for the pleasure.

The training center representative said it would be clear in 10 days whether Simonyi would have a backup. "The main thing is that he wants to learn more than is taught during the reduced 'tourist' course, which does him credit," he said.

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