US billionaire Charles Simonyi roared into space aboard a Russian rocket today, making history as the first tourist to make the epic journey twice.
The Soyuz TMA-14 spacecraft blasted into the leaden skies from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan at 11:49am as planned and is due to dock with the International Space Station (ISS) two days later.
"We are feeling well. Everything is going well," Russian cosmonaut Gennady Padalka said in a live feed after take-off, a fluffy white toy hanging above the crew in the cabin.
Hungarian-born Simonyi, 60, who made much of his fortune developing software at Microsoft, travelled to space in the crammed interior of the Soyuz rocket alongside Padalka and US astronaut Michael Barratt.
A spokesman for Russian mission control said the rocket had safely reached targeted orbit. "They are now in orbit. Everything is going well," the spokesman said.
Mr Simonyi, who paid a total of $60 million for his two space trips, has said he will hang up his space suit for good after this last trek.
"I cannot fly for the third time because I have just married and I have to spend time with my family," Mr Simonyi told a pre-flight news briefing from behind a sealed glass partition.
As preparations entered their final stage earlier in the day, Mr Simonyi looked confident as he bid farewell to friends who had gathered at the Soviet-era cosmodrome to wish him luck.
He smiled and blew a kiss at his 28-year-old Swedish wife Lisa Persdotter, clad in a floor-length fur coat against the chilly weather, as he emerged from his hotel in the morning and headed for the launch pad.
Mr Simonyi is set to return to earth on April 7 with Michael Fincke, US commander of outgoing Expedition 18, and Russian flight engineer Yuri Lonchakov.
Reuters