LOS ANGELES, Aug 8 (Reuters) - Lance Bass of the boy band 'N Sync is still on track to fly to the International Space Station in October, despite a Russian comment that a late payment had jeopardized the singer's bid to orbit Earth, Bass' chief supporter said on Thursday.

Hollywood producer David Krieff, who has arranged financial backing for the performer's space venture, said Russian space agency executives and attorneys flew to Los Angeles last week and spent eight days hammering out a 400-page flight agreement with Bass' representatives.

He said Bass, 23, is slated to blast off Oct. 28 from the Baikonur space center in Kazakhstan with two cosmonauts on an eight-day Soyuz "taxi" and resupply mission to the space station.

"We're moving forward. We're excited about it," Krieff told Reuters.

He disputed remarks a day earlier by Rosaviakosmos spokesman Sergei Gorbunov that the Russian space agency might scrub Bass from the mission because he had failed to meet a payment deadline.

"We are meeting and have met every obligation, and we will continue to meet every obligation, of our contract," Krieff said. "The problems that are started on their side because of big mouths, that's another situation."

Bass, the low voice of the five-member pop sensation 'N Sync, hopes to follow in the footsteps of the world's first two space tourists -- American businessman Dennis Tito and South African millionaire Mark Shuttleworth -- for a ride into orbit that reportedly costs $20 million.

Krieff, president of Los Angeles-based Destiny Productions, is planning to build a TV mini-series around Bass' adventure and said he has lined up six U.S. sponsors who have agreed to pony up about $22 million collectively.

He said he also has a deal with a U.S. TV network he declined to name and broadcasting and sponsorship pacts in about 40 other countries.

The singer is currently training and studying Russian at the cosmonaut center in Star City, outside Moscow, and is scheduled to fly to NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston later this month for additional training there, Krieff said.

"We're working hand in hand with NASA. They're opening up their arms and spirit to us," he said.

NASA spokesman Kyle Herring said Bass was expected to come to Houston for training in August. But as of Thursday, Bass had not received final approval for the mission from Russia's partners in the space station program -- the United States, Canada, Japan and the European Space Agency.

Herring said the space station partners also had not received formal notice from Moscow that its space agency has signed a flight agreement with Bass. At NASA's request, Russia recently supplied additional information about Bass' medical condition, educational background and other experience.

NASA flight director John Curry told reporters in Houston on Thursday he believed the participation of Bass, provided he meets necessary criteria, would be good for the space program. Nampa-Reuters 0132 090802 WEB story ENDS (NAMPA 090135)