US asks Russia to build a Soyuz spacecraft for NASA

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

It became known this week that the United States is going to sign a contract with Russia to build a Soyuz spacecraft for NASA. The American side needs it in order to deliver its astronauts to the International Space Station. In particular, the next such flight should take place in 2020.

It is assumed that the United States will pay in full for both the production of the spacecraft and its flight to the ISS. At the same time, there will be two American NASA astronauts on board, while a Russian cosmonaut will operate it.

Recall that after the imposition of sanctions against Russia, relations between the Russian Federation and the United States deteriorated sharply, and cooperation in various fields began to rapidly decline. In this regard, the United States planned to abandon the use of Russian spacecraft and build its own shuttles that would allow the delivery of American astronauts into orbit.

However, it turned out to be not so easy, and there was a delay in production. Therefore, now the United States is forced to once again turn to Russia for help in order to continue working in space.

Earlier, in an article by the Internet magazine Popular Mechanics, entitled "The Russian aerospace sector may break away from the United States and begin cooperation with China," it was reported that Russia would transfer its cooperation in space projects from the United States to China, the Chinese edition of Sina drew attention to this.

The article explains that the new strategy will be a historic moment for the Russian space sector.

In the aerospace industry, Russia has partnered with the United States for 30 years. However, the recent deterioration in relations between Russia and the United States has prompted Roscosmos to start looking for its own space development. The new plan could start before or after the "retirement" of the International Space Station from 2024 to 2028.

For many years Moscow has been considering the possibility of developing an independent manned space project. Plans include building a relatively small space station in low Earth orbit and establishing a permanent base on the moon. However, the Russian government needs an international partner - at least for some time, according to the Chinese media.

The article notes that in 2020, China plans to launch the first multi-module space station, similar to the Russian orbital station Mir. For years, Chinese space officials have wanted to invite other space nations to join this orbital baseline. Now all indications are that the situation has gradually begun to benefit China.

Commenting on the interaction between Moscow and Beijing, Russian President Vladimir Putin said: “We support the decisions adopted by the last congress of the Chinese Communist Party. It contains a positive agenda. This is close to what we offer. China's economy is developing rapidly. China is our largest strategic and economic partner."