MirCorp president Jeffrey Manber today confirmed that discussions are taking place with the Italian company Itali-Mir to send Carlo Vibert to the Mir as a guest cosmonaut.

Vibert was with the European Space Agency, and already has experience with Mir training.

“We are delighted to be exploring this historic mission with Itali-Mir,” Manber said. “Bringing together a wide range of Italian industry, media, banks and consumer companies to support a serious mission to Mir is exactly one of our primary goals. We believe this is a good commercial model for all nations with experienced space talent.”