NASA has extended a contract with Russia on manned flights to the ISS – Onet.pl

contract extension at 2,017 years means that at that time the United States will continue to be completely dependent on Russia in terms of flight astronauts to the ISS. The contract is worth 490 million dollars.

In July 2011, the US excluded from the use of all space shuttles and from this time manned flights to the space station took place via Russian Soyuz ships.

NASA announced on Wednesday, that Congress not to grant sufficient funds for the development of commercial US space program postponed the possibility of flights from the United States. NASA had in this respect to the financing of companies Boeing and SpaceX, which could pursue human spaceflight.

In a letter to Congress, NASA chief Charles Bolden stated that, for the six seats in Soyuz ships, the US Agency will have to pay Russia for a total of $ 490 million, nearly 82 million (over 10 million more than before) the place.

As noted by Bolden, NASA had hoped to launch flights from the USA at the end of 2017 but budget proposals the House of Representatives and the Senate Fiscal Year beginning on 1 October threatened this program; as a result you should expect more delays and higher costs – he warned. The letter was addressed to the heads of congressional committees supervising NASA.

Extension of the agreement with Russia on flights to the ISS falls the tightening of relations between the two countries and applied to the US sanctions on Moscow in connection with its role in the conflict in Ukraine.