18:23 18 November 2019
Russia earns almost $4 bln on collaboration with NASA
NASA has already paid Russia $3.9 billion in 13 years for launching American astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). These expenses will increase even more, Gazeta Wyborcza daily wrote.
Roscosmos, commissioned by NASA, began transporting astronauts from the US to the ISS since 2006. A few years later, the American agency closed its space shuttle program, thus becoming completely dependent on Russia in this regard.
According to "GW", initially Roscosmos was earning just over $20 million for the transport of one American in space, but after closing NASA's shuttle program the price went up. Costs have recently risen to $86 million for one place in the Soyuz rocket.`
In the US, companies such as Boeing and SpaceX are working on new, and above all, American rockets for transport between Earth and the International Space Station. However, NASA's general inspector believes there is a risk that both companies will not get all the necessary certificates to start astronaut transport in 2020. And that means more problems for NASA.
