Forbes by Eric Tegler 5/14/2020
SpaceX is set to launch its Dragon spacecraft on a demonstration flight to prove that it can safely carry two NASA astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) at the end of this month. If things go as planned and Dragon safely delivers the astronauts to the ISS, the flight will signal that America no longer needs Russian Soyuz rockets and space vehicles to get to the space station.
Since the termination of the Space Shuttle program in 2011, the U.S. has relied solely on Russian vehicles to transport humans (and most cargo) back and forth to ISS. Buying seats on Soyuz has cost American taxpayers nearly $4 billion, or approximately $400 million per year and $90 million per seat, according to the UAE newspaper The National and ArsTechnica.com.
It’s been called the world’s most expensive passenger ticket.
The Russian government also sells Soyuz seats to Japan’s space agency (JAXA) and the European Space Agency, making flights to the ISS a valuable source of foreign currency. Given that NASA refers to the ISS enterprise as “the most politically complex space exploration program ever undertaken,†what does the likely cessation of ride buying from Russia portend for cooperation on the space station?
Great Anticipation
More:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/erictegler/2020/05/14/does-a-successful-spacex-demo-flight-change-the-spirit-of-detente-on-the-international-space-station/#737d49b04518
