The Roscosmos boss recently said that SpaceX's Crew Dragon ship is safe enough to carry Russian cosmonauts. By 2022, "mixed" crews could then be possible, both in SpaceX capsules, but also in Russian Soyuz.
During a press conference held in Dubai during the 72nd International Astronautical Congress on October 25, Dimitry Rogozin, the head of the Russian state space company Roscosmos, said it plans to fly cosmonauts aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft to the International Space Station (ISS).
This is a striking reversal of tone given the strained relationship between Rogozin and SpaceX boss Elon Musk that we've become accustomed to. A few weeks ago, the first had even invited the second to come and drink tea in Russia, suggesting the beginning of reconciliation.
"In our opinion, SpaceX has already gained enough experience for us to put our cosmonauts on board the Crew Dragon “, said Rogozin, quoted by SpaceNews.
The idea would not be to abandon the Soyuz spacecraft, but to again match NASA astronauts and Roscosmos cosmonauts in American and Russian capsules.
Recall that since the first manned flight of the Crew Dragon in May 2020, only one American astronaut has joined a Russian spacecraft, while no cosmonaut has taken off since. United States. From now on, cosmonauts will join the Americans in the Crew Dragon capsules, while American astronauts will once again fly regularly aboard Soyuz capsules.
This "new deal" could start in the second half of 2022 as part of SpaceX's Crew-5 mission. A NASA astronaut could fly on a Soyuz again in the fall of 2022.
Difficult to determine the true intentions of Rogozin and Roscosmos behind this somewhat surprised approval. This announcement comes as Russia plans to abandon the ISS as early as 2025 , after two decades of continuous international occupation and cooperation. More recently, Russia even communicated its intention to send cosmonauts to the new Chinese station.
In the meantime, NASA and SpaceX officials have approved plans for the next launch of the Crew Dragon spacecraft. The Crew-3 mission is scheduled to take off on October 31 from Kennedy Space Center. A few days later, Thomas Pesquet's crew will return to Earth.
