Funding shortfall in programme to replace space shuttle means Soyuz remains the only way Americans can get to International Space Station, says Nasa chief

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Nasa has said it is being forced to extended its contract with Russia to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, at a cost of nearly half a billion dollars, because budget cuts have delayed commercial US alternatives.



Taking the contract through 2017 would cost the United States about $490m, the Nasa chief, Charles Bolden, wrote in a letter to Congress.

The deal for US taxpayers to pay Moscow more than $80m per seat on a Soyuz rocket comes at a time when Washington is imposing sanctions on Russia in response to its actions in Ukraine.

“Unfortunately, for five years now, the Congress … has not adequately funded the commercial crew programme to return human spaceflight launches to American soil this year as planned,” Bolden wrote.

“This has resulted in continued sole reliance on the Russian Soyuz spacecraft as our crew transport vehicle for American and international partner crews.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest A Russian Soyuz capsule carrying crew including an American astronaut arrives at the International Space Station.

Nasa retired its space shuttles in 2011. It is partnering with privately owned SpaceX and Boeing to develop space capsules that can ferry astronauts to and from the station 250 miles (402km) above Earth.

Nasa had hoped to begin US flights by 2017 but House and Senate budget proposals for the fiscal year beginning on 1 October would leave its commercial crew programme short, likely resulting in additional delays and higher costs, Bolden wrote.

Bolden’s letter was sent to the heads of congressional committees that oversee Nasa, the agency said.

The reliance on Russia for station crew transportation stands in sharp contrast to a congressional ban on imports of Russian rocket engines for US military satellite launches.

Spurred by Russia’s involvement in Ukraine, the ban covers Russian-built RD-180 engines used in United Launch Alliance’s Atlas 5 rockets. United Launch Alliance is a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing.

Also on Wednesday, Orbital ATK, one of two companies that fly cargo to the space station under a separate Nasa programme, said a pair of Russian engines for its refurbished Antares rocket had arrived in the United States. Orbital’s rocket has been grounded since a launch accident in October.

The rocket is expected to return to flight in March.

The congressional ban on Russian rocket engines does not affect non-military missions.