The Russian government has approved the next round of negotiations between the State Space Corporation Roscosmos and the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), regarding the continuation of cross-flights to the International Space Station, as reported by TASS. In normal times, such cooperation might not be news, but in the attempt to revive normal relations, it is a sign of returning health.
The document, posted on the official legal information portal of Roscosmos, said that the government was to “approve the proposal of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos, coordinated with the Russian Foreign Ministry and other interested federal executive authorities, to hold negotiations on concluding a fourth addendum to the Arrangement on the Implementation of the Agreement between the State Space Corporation Roscosmos (the Russian Federation) and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration of the United States of America regarding flights of integrated crews aboard Russian and U.S. crewed transport spacecraft.”
In July 2022, NASA and Roscosmos signed an agreement for a “seat-swap” or cross-flight agreement on trips to the ISS, allowing U.S. astronauts to fly aboard Russia spacecraft and for Russian cosmonauts to travel aboard U.S. spaceships. The agreement ensures that there is at least one NASA astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut aboard the ISS at all times, to manage their respective segments. Other space agencies involved with the ISS include those of Canada, Europe and Japan.
