The Russian government has supported Roscosmos' initiative to start negotiations with NASA to sign the fourth amendment to the agreement on cross flights. The corresponding document, approved by Prime Minister Mikhail Mishustin, was posted on the official portal of legal acts.
To accept the proposal of the State Corporation for Space Activities "Roscosmos", agreed with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia and other interested federal executive bodies on conducting negotiations on the conclusion of the fourth amendment to the Agreement on the implementation of the agreement regarding flights of integrated crews on Russian and American manned transport ships.
The original agreement was signed by Roscosmos and NASA in July 2022. The program guarantees stable operation of the International Space Station thanks to the mandatory presence on board the ISS of at least one Russian cosmonaut and one American astronaut, even in case of emergencies. Since then, the parties have signed three additions to the agreement, the last of which implies flights of mixed crews in 2025-2026.
The cross-flight program is an agreement that allows cosmonauts and astronauts to carry out missions to the International Space Station (ISS) on vehicles provided by another country. This agreement ensures the continuous presence of crews on the station, given the limited number of manned ships available to each party.
