Recording artist Sarah Brightman's mission to ISS

Global recording artist and UNESCO Artist for Peace Ambassador, Sarah Brightman, announced today in Moscow her intention to launch on a future orbital spaceflight mission to the International Space Station (ISS) in partnership with Space Adventures, Ltd., the world's leading space experiences company.

Brightman will be part of a three-person crew traveling to the ISS on board a Soyuz rocket. Once on the ISS, she will orbit the Earth 16 times daily and intends to become the first professional musician to sing from space. The final scheduling of her trip to the space station will be determined by Roscosmos and the ISS partners in the coming months.

In conjunction with her role as a UNESCO Artist for Peace ambassador, Brightman sees life on board the space station — which requires the mindful, shared consumption of resources and a clear and unwavering focus on sustainability — as a model for how we might better inhabit our planet. During her estimated 10-day tenure on board the space station, Brightman will advocate for UNESCO's mandate to promote peace and sustainable development to safeguard our planet's future. Additionally, this journey will allow Brightman to advance education and empower the role of girls and women in science and technology in an effort to help close the gender gap in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) fields.

"I don't think of myself as a dreamer. Rather, I am a dream chaser," said Sarah Brightman. "I hope that I can encourage others to take inspiration from my journey both to chase down their own dreams and to help fulfill the important UNESCO mandate to promote peace and sustainable development on Earth and from space. I am determined that this journey can reach out to be a force for good, a catalyst for some of the dreams and aims of others that resonate with me."

Over the coming months, Brightman will explore and further develop plans with UNESCO to combine their activities and her space journey. Upon her return to Earth, she will continue to work with UNESCO in an effort to plan multiple, epic 'Space to Place' concerts at UNESCO World Heritage Sites, biosphere reserves, and geoparks. Together, the over-arching aim will be to organize events including concerts and multi-media, to involve as many people as possible and to engage a generation of 'dreamchasers' from all walks of life to help create a more sustainable future for our planet.

Within the coming months, Brightman will be releasing a new record entitled "Dreamchaser" in January 2013 — a collection of songs that has been influenced by the feelings and challenges of her space adventure. Additionally, in 2013, she will undertake the most comprehensive global tour performing around the world, beginning in Canada at the end of January and visiting all five continents over the following months. Following that, Brightman will embark upon six months of training in Russia ahead of her flight to the ISS.

"We are very enthusiastic to announce Sarah Brightman's desire to launch to space. I have deep admiration for Sarah, not only for her well deserved title of being the world's best-selling soprano, but for the young girl who was inspired by Yuri Gagarin and Neil Armstrong to reach for her own star. We look forward to working with her to make her dream a reality," said Eric Anderson, Chairman of Space Adventures, Ltd.

"I am pleased to announce that Sarah Brightman has been selected to participate in our spaceflight training program. This past July, Ms. Brightman completed and passed all of the required medical and physical evaluations; she's fit and mentally prepared for our spaceflight training program. We will work closely with Space Adventures in supporting Ms. Brightman's spaceflight candidacy," said Alexey Krasnov, Head of Piloted Programs Department.

Throughout the next several months, Brightman will share pictures and experiences via her website, giving visitors unique insights into her extraordinary journey and learning every step of the way.

About Sarah Brightman:

International singing superstar Sarah Brightman is the world's biggest selling Soprano. She pioneered the classical crossover music movement and is famed for possessing a vocal range of over 3 octaves. Sarah is the only artist to have simultaneously topped the Billboard dance and classical music charts. She remains among the world's most prominent performers, with global sales of 30 million units having received more than 180 gold and platinum awards in over 40 countries. Brightman was also the first artist to have been invited to perform at the Olympic Games on two occasions. The first was at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games and then 16 years later in Beijing.

Brightman recently accepted the UNESCO nomination to be an "Artist For Peace" Ambassador in 2012 for her "commitment to humanitarian and charitable causes". On September 26, 2012, Sarah released the first track "Angel" from her highly anticipated new album, "Dreamchaser" to be released on January 22, 2013. Brightman will also begin her "Dreamchaser" World Tour, which will touch upon five continents and include over 100 concert dates, kicking off in North America on January 29, 2013.

About Space Adventures:

Space Adventures, the company that organized the flights for the world's first private space explorers, is headquartered in Vienna, Va. with an office in Moscow. It offers a variety of programs such as the availability today for spaceflight missions to the International Space Station and around the moon, cosmonaut training, spaceflight qualification programs and reservations on future suborbital spacecraft. The company's orbital spaceflight clients include Dennis Tito, Mark Shuttleworth, Greg Olsen, Anousheh Ansari, Charles Simonyi, Richard Garriott and Guy Laliberté. Cumulatively, Space Adventures' clients have spent almost three months in space, traveling over 36 million miles.