Russian-American cooperation in space flights continues until 2025.
After previously promising to remain on the International Space Station (ISS) until 2028, Russia has confirmed that it will continue to help the US space agency NASA with manned flights until 2025. Thus, despite the strained relations between the two major powers on Earth, the Russian – American cooperation in space to continue for some time.
This was announced by the Russian space agency Roscosmos, noting that the partnership between the two countries “in cross flights” will be extended until 2025, writes Engadget.
Cross-flights involve sending crews from multiple countries to the same spacecraft. Roscosmos intends to always have at least one of its representatives in the Russian part of the MSS and at least one representative of the NASA agency in the American part of the station.
The Russian agency added that the decision was made to preserve the reliability of the entire International Space Station. By the way, the MSS was launched in 1988 as a symbol of cooperation between Russia and the USA after the end of the Cold War and the race for space success.
Roskosmos / NASANews of the continued cooperation comes after NASA announced in April 2023 that Russia would remain on the station until 2028. Roscosmos Director Yuri Borisov previously stated that Russia would leave the MSS after 2024 to focus on creating its own space station.
Afterward, NASA prepared for Russia's departure with plans ranging from withdrawing astronauts from the station to considering how to manage the station if Russia removed its engines.
However, it seems that Russian-American cooperation in this segment will apparently continue for some time, and NASA has committed to maintaining the International Space Station until at least 2030.