Russia and the US extend joint crew flights to the ISS until 2030

Roscosmos director Dmitry Bakanov said the bilateral program for crewed flights to the International Space Station (ISS) has been extended until 2030 at the request of the American side.

"And they transport us, and we transport them, of course. We have a joint flight program which, at the request of our American colleagues, has been extended until 2030," Bakanov said in an interview for the program "Vesti", answering a question about whether Russia will continue to carry American astronauts into space.

Current cooperation and separate talks

Bakanov stressed that relations between Russia and the United States regarding the ISS have not been severed and that cooperation within the project continues.

Earlier the Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov said Moscow is negotiating with partners to extend use of the ISS until 2032. Manturov also stated that the program for crewed spaceflights is proceeding according to plan, as are the joint-flight arrangements and the station's operations.

Under the present arrangement, Russian cosmonauts travel to the station aboard the American Crew Dragon spacecraft, while American astronauts fly to the ISS on Russian Soyuz MS vehicles. The extension formalizes that reciprocal transport arrangement for the remainder of the decade.

Photo: press material from the event