A new step has been taken in the American and Russian cooperation in space, which has fallen into uncertainty with the tension created by the Ukrainian war. It was announced that NASA astronauts and Russian cosmonauts will be able to go to the International Space Station (ISS) from September with both Russian rockets and American-made spacecraft.
The US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Russian space agency Roscosmos signed a long-awaited vehicle sharing agreement. With the agreement, Russian cosmonauts will be able to travel with the American company Space X, and in return, American astronauts will be allowed to travel on Russian Soyuz rockets.
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According to Euronews, the deal will ensure that there will be at least one American and one Russian crew on the ISS. The deal, which had been in the works for a long time, was signed on Friday, despite being overshadowed by recent changes in Roscosmos’ management team and tensions over Ukraine.
“The agreement will serve the interests of Russia and the United States and promote the development of cooperation within the framework of the ISS program,” Roscosmos said in a statement, underlining that it will also facilitate the exploration of outer space for peaceful purposes.
The NASA statement emphasized that the agreement is important to ensure the continuation of safe operations on the ISS and the protection of its inhabitants.
There are currently seven crew members on the ISS, including three Americans and an Italian astronaut aboard Space X and three Russian astronauts aboard Soyuz.
FIRST FLIGHTS IN SEPTEMBER
For years, NASA and Roscosmos, the two main partners in the 20-year-old ISS, have sought to renew routine integrated crewed flights under the space agencies’ civilian alliance.
The first flight, which will be the last link in the cooperation between the two countries, will take place in September. According to NASA, American astronaut Frank Rubio, along with Russian cosmonauts Sergey Prokopyev and Dmitry Petelin, will go to the ISS on a Soyuz rocket that will take off from Baikonur Spaceport in Kazakhstan.
Also in September, Russian cosmonaut Anna Kikina will join two American and one Japanese astronaut on a Space X Crew Dragon launch from the Keddedy Space Center in Florida, USA. The crew swap will take place six months later.
NASA announced that no money will be exchanged for this exchange.
Russian cosmonauts had flown to the ISS in the early 2000s using NASA vehicles. Before that, in the 1990s, astronauts and cosmonauts had taken off from Russia’s Mir space station, traveled to the ISS and back in each other’s vehicles.
PUTIN DISMISSES ROGOZIN
A few days ago, Russian President Vladimir Putin dismissed Dmitry Rogozin, the head of Rocosmos, and replaced him with Yuri Borisov, former prime minister and deputy defense minister. The Kremlin did not comment on the new appointment.
Rogozin, who was appointed to the post in 2018, had taken a confrontational stance against the sanctions imposed by Western states after Russia sent troops to Ukraine, which hit the Russian defense industry.
Rogozin threatened to withdraw Roscosmos from the ISS, said that cooperation with the West was “impossible” and praised Russia’s nuclear potential with the Sarmat missile tested during his presidency. Rogozin also suggested that the ISS could crash in the US or Europe as a result of sanctions.
Following Rogozin’s departure, Roscosmos released a video praising the former head’s achievements. The video stated that during this period, 86 successful launches were carried out in a row, the Russian section of the ISS was built and a powerful intercontinental ballistic missile test flight was carried out.
Rogozin also declared war on billionaire Elon Musk on Twitter, openly talking about Russia’s nuclear capabilities and implying that Western defense sites could be targeted by sharing coordinates and satellite images.
