Washington. May 17. INTERFAX - Russia and the United States continue negotiations on cross-flights to the ISS, plans for their resumption this fall remain in force, deputy head of NASA's ISS program Dana Weigel told reporters.
"Yesterday we held talks with our colleagues from Roscosmos and they reported that they are still working on an agreement (providing for the flight of a Russian cosmonaut in a crew) Cre2-5," Weigel said at a briefing on Tuesday.
"We have not yet heard Rogozin's statements, but the agreement is being negotiated in the remaining bodies of the Russian government. As for the current state of affairs, our partners (from Roscosmos - IF) are working on signing an agreement, I expect that we will hear the results of their assessment by the government over the next few weeks," she added.
According to her, the deadline for making a decision on the composition of the autumn crews of American and Russian ships will be the end of June.
On May 14, the head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said that some executive authorities of the Russian Federation consider it premature to resume Russian-American cross-flights to the ISS.
"The issue of cross-flights has a technical and political meaning and both of these issues have not yet been resolved... Some of our federal executive authorities reasonably believe that it is premature for them to make a decision about these cross-flights now," he said.
Rogozin linked the delay in the adoption of the agreement with the military operation in Ukraine.
On April 26, Joel Montalbano, the head of the US Aeronautics Administration program at the ISS, said that NASA expects to receive an agreed draft agreement from Russia in the next three weeks to resume cross-flights.
According to him, the issue of the entry of cosmonaut Kikina into the crew of the Crew Dragon-5 mission will be resolved "in mid - late June."
On April 12, the executive director of Roscosmos for manned flights, Sergey Krikalev, announced that the draft agreement on cross-flights had almost been agreed by the Russian side. "We are in the process of approval, most of the federal executive authorities have already agreed on the project. Well, the draft agreement will be submitted to the government, in the future, depending on the timing of approval, we will plan cross-flights," he told reporters.
On April 2, Rogozin said that the state corporation will soon report to the country's leadership "specific proposals of Roscosmos on the timing of completion of cooperation within the ISS with the space agencies of the United States, Canada, the European Union and Japan."
"I believe that the restoration of normal relations between partners on the International Space Station and other joint projects is possible only with the complete and unconditional lifting of illegal sanctions," he said.
Earlier, the state corporation reported receiving letters from NASA, ESA and the Canadian Space Agency with a response to the proposal to lift sanctions from the enterprises of the Russian space industry. As noted in the letters, the United States and Canada consider it their priority to continue the safe operation of the ISS. The head of NASA, Bill Nelson, noted that the existing US sanctions do not affect the operation of the station.
Roscosmos linked the response to this proposal with the fate of the agreement on the resumption of cross-flights to the ISS and with the question of extending the life of the station.
On March 14, the head of the NASA program at the ISS, Montalbano, said that negotiations on cross-flights between NASA and Roscosmos are continuing, American astronauts will soon go to Russia for training on the Soyuz.
On February 24, the press service of the state corporation reported that Roscosmos continues to fulfill its obligations to work on the ISS, work on the agreement on cross-flights with the United States also continues.
On January 20, Roscosmos reported that if an agreement on cross-flights between Russia and the United States is signed, NASA astronaut Francisco Rubio will join the crew of the Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft instead of Anna Kikina, who will go to the ISS on the American Crew Dragon ship.
According to the state corporation, the flight of the American Crew Dragon ship, the crew of which may include Kikina, will take place in August 2022. Earlier, NASA reported that the launch of the spacecraft is scheduled for the fall of 2022.
On December 27, 2021, Rogozin, in an interview with The New York Times, said that the Russian Federation and the United States plan to carry out one joint flight per year from 2022 to 2024 as part of the cross-flight program.
