Re: There's also the issue of sponsorship... differs with each applicant. n/t
The more sponsors there are, the more complicated it's going to become, I'm afraid.
And the higher the risks of delays.
When Helen Sharman was selected to fly aboard Mir, the british sponsors left the scenery one after the other and it's a Russian Bank that ended up financing her flight.
The UK didn't spend anything and Helen flew just before the Soviet Union collapsed and her flight would have been impossible after that.
The Soviet Union was willing to consider her flight as a political gesture.
She was quite lucky!
Raoul