NASA and Roscosmos have officially extended the agreement on mutual crew integration on the International Space Station (ISS) until 2027.
Astronauts will continue to fly on Russian Soyuz ships, and cosmonauts will fly on American commercial vehicles. If one of the programs is suspended, at least one representative from the United States and Russia will remain on the station.
On April 3, 2025, NASA announced the assignment of astronaut Chris Williams to the crew of the Soyuz MS-28 spacecraft. His launch is scheduled for November. Together with him, Russians Sergei Kud-Sverchkov and Sergei Mikaev will go into orbit. This decision was the first confirmation of the extension of the agreement, as its future was in question in the fall of 2024 due to Roscosmos' plans, where foreign participants were not initially listed in the Soyuz MS-28 and MS-29 missions.
Information about the completion of negotiations appeared in the Russian media back in January 2025, but NASA officially confirmed this only on April 9 (after the announcement of Williams' flight). Two joint flights are planned for 2025, one in 2026, and a SpaceX Dragon mission in 2027.
The key change concerns the schedule of expeditions on the Soyuz. If previously the ships were sent to the ISS every six months, then starting with Soyuz MS-27 (which launched on April 8 with astronaut Johnny Kim), their stay on the station has been increased to eight months. This will reduce the number of manned launches by Roscosmos — instead of four in two years, three are now planned. The reasons for the adjustment are not disclosed, but it coincides with the stable schedule of NASA commercial missions, which on average start every six months.
The question of Boeing Starliner's participation in the agreement remains open. In May 2024, NASA representatives suggested that Roscosmos, as in the case of Crew Dragon, may not include cosmonauts in the first regular Starliner-1 flight. The launch itself has been repeatedly postponed due to delays in the test mission and the investigation of technical problems.
Earlier www1.ru reported that Russia and the United States are coordinating the timing of the ISS flooding.
Read materials on the topic:
Time to go home!: The crew of the Soyuz MS-26 spacecraft will return to Earth on April 20
Kenneth Bowersox from NASA: I hope Russians are proud of their space program
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