Chinese officials say that is because the final choice on who will ride the rocket and thereby becomeanationalhero to 1.3 billion people still has not been made.
Mr Golborne, a former manager at a retail company who spent weeks at the mine overseeing the operation, has becomeanationalhero, prompting speculation that he may run for president in 2014.
That is because Mr Bucaram's supporters are alleged to have been behind an attack last month on Hernan Dario Gomez, a Colombian coach who has becomeanationalhero in Ecuador by taking its lowly team to the brink of an unprecedented place in the World Cup finals.