With the Discovery space shuttle out of the way after undocking from the International Space Station, a Russian Soyuz satellite blasted towards the space station, just as scheduled, carrying a tourist that paid lots of money for the 13-day journey.

The space tourist is Charles Simonyi, a software developer who is at his second trip to space. Simonyi is a Hungarian-born, Bellevue businessman and former Microsoft executive. He paid $35 million for this trip, $10 million more than the previous space trip undertaken two years ago.

On the Soyuz there is also an American astronaut, Michael Barratt, who will join the ISS crew.  

The blast off was televised and the three  men inside the capsule were looking calm and relaxed while the Soyuz blasted into space Thursday from the Baikomur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan. The rocket started battling gravity at exactly 7:49 a.m. Eastern time. It launched from site 254, the same launch pad from where Yuri Gagarin blasted off to become the first man in space. It took the Soyuz nine minutes to make it into Earth’s orbit.

The third man aboard the space craft is Expedition 19 commander Gennady Padalka, a Russian air force colonel.

The crew of the Soyuz already received welcoming declarations from the ISS.

“We’d like to pass on our congratulations,” ISS commander Mike Fincke radioed.

“We’re looking forward to welcoming them aboard in just a few days.”

Meanwhile, the Discovery space shuttle is preparing to return to Earth. It is currently orbiting ahead of the ISS and will inspect a heated shield before returning to Earth. It’s expected to touch down at the Kennedy Space Center at about 1:38 p.m. Saturday.