Japanese space tourists depart International Space Station

Associated Press

MOSCOW (AP) – A Japanese billionaire, his producer and a Russian cosmonaut have departed the International Space Station and are headed back to Earth, wrapping up the first visit by self-paying space tourists to the orbiting outpost in more than a decade.

Fashion tycoon Yusaku Maezawa, his producer Yozo Hirano and Russian cosmonaut Alexander Misurkin boarded the Russian Soyuz spacecraft, which undocked from the station at 2349 GMT Sunday.

They are set to land in the steppes of Kazakhstan at 9:13 a.m. (0313 GMT) Monday about 150 kilometers (about 90 miles) southeast of the city of Zhezkazgan.