ZVEZDNY GORODOK (Moscow region). Sept 14 (Interfax) - Russia and the United States are discussing the possibility to continue flights of international crews after the United States starts sending its new spaceships to the International Space Station (ISS), Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center head Pavel Vlasov has told the press.
For now, Russia is the only country transporting expeditions to the ISS.
"The possibility of international crews is under consideration. I mean there may be still one NASA crewmember onboard Soyuz spaceships, while our [cosmonauts] may fly NASA spaceships in addition to those Russian," Vlasov said.
The option will increase the reliability of transportation to the ISS in case of launch delays, he said.
The United States lost individual access to outer space after the Space Shuttle project was shut down in 2011. NASA astronauts have been traveling to the ISS only onboard Russia's Soyuz spaceships since then. Boeing and SpaceX are expected to perform the first manned flight before the end of 2018 or in the middle of 2019. There is no precise date of the inaugural flight as of yet.