WASHINGTON MirCorp plans to launch winners of a prime time television game show into space in 2003. The Amsterdam-based company announced the plans after securing permission from the Russian Aviation and Space Agency to send the winners to the international space station (ISS) barring any objections from the international partners.

"This means we are able to move forward with our media partners to do an historic game show where the winner can go to space," said MirCorp President Jeffrey Manber in a telephone interview from Moscow.

Manber said that the game show winners would visit space as members of a Soyuz capsule crew during routine taxi missions to the orbital outpost. If the game show winners are not allowed to visit ISS for any reason, Manber said, they will still be sent into space on a Soyuz for a spin around the Earth.