Aleksandr Nikolayevich BalandinStatus: Retired 7/30/1953 – Nationality: Russian Type: Government First Flight: 2/11/1990 Last Flight: 2/11/1990Aleksandr Nikolayevich Balandin (Russian: Александр Николаевич Баландин) (born July 30, 1953) is a Russian cosmonaut. He is married with two children. He was selected as a cosmonaut on December 1, 1978, and retired on October 17, 1994. He flew as a flight engineer on Soyuz TM-9. He worked at NPO Energia until 1994, and was then President of Lendint-Association until 2000LaunchesSoyuz-U2 | Soyuz TM-9Russian Federal Space Agency (ROSCOSMOS)Type: Government Abbreviation: RFSA Administration: Administrator: Dmitry Rogozin Founded: 1992 Launchers: Soyuz Spacecraft: Soyuz Country: RUSThe Roscosmos State Corporation for Space Activities, commonly known as Roscosmos, is the governmental body responsible for the space science program of the Russian Federation and general aerospace research. Soyuz has many launch locations the Russian sites are Baikonur, Plesetsk and Vostochny however Ariane also purchases the vehicle and launches it from French Guiana.