NASA signs $490 mn contract with Russia for rides to ISS

Bolden explained NASA modified its contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) valued at $490 million in order to meet the agency’s need to send astronauts to the ISS.

He said,”Unfortunately, for five years now, the Congress, while incrementally increasing annual funding, has not adequately funded the Commercial Crew Program to return human spaceflight launches to American soil this year, as planned”.

The deal to pay Moscow more than $80 million per Soyuz rocket seat, up from $71 million per seat under the previous contract, comes at a time when Washington is ratcheting up sanctions against Russian Federation in response to its aggressive moves in Ukraine.

NASA introduced that amidst lack of U.S. Congressional funding, it has no different choice that to rely on the Russian Soyuz to transport individuals to the ISS.

NASA has sought funding since 2010 to develop a US made and launched spacecraft with Boeing and SpaceX.

The United States has been relying on Russian Federation for access to the global Space Station since it finished its space shuttle program three years back. It is partnering with privately owned SpaceX and Boeing to develop space taxis that can ferry astronauts to and from the station, a $US100 billion research laboratory that flies about 400 km above Earth.

It has been warned by NASA Administrator Charles Bolden in a letter that there are doubts regarding launch with help of Boeing and SpaceX by the end of 2017 to send up their first crewed vessels in case, funding that President Barack Obama has requested, is not granted in budget of 2016.

Also on Wednesday, Orbital ATK, one of two companies that fly cargo to the space station under a separate NASA program, said a pair of Russian engines for its refurbished Antares rocket had arrived in the United States.

NASA has invested about $1.4 billion in contracts and special agreements with private companies. Furthermore, he urged law makers not to lower the Commercial Crew budget for the fiscal year of 2016, saying that would be disastrous to the program.

But those achievements won’t be possible without adequate funding, according to Bolden.