ST. PETERSBURG. Aug 25 (Interfax) - Russia's Roscosmos and NASA have agreed on an additional flight of a U.S. astronaut onboard a Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft under the bilateral agreement on cross-flights to the International Space Station (ISS), Roscosmos Executive Director for Manned Space Programs Sergei Krikalev told Interfax.
"One of the Americans has been essentially left [onboard the ISS] for two missions. We have added another flight to compensate for the time spent at the station," Krikalev said in response to a related question.
"This is a mutually advantageous business. We interact and search for the optimal variant. In fact, this exchange of flights is a good thing, it adds reliability to our program," he said.
Previously, on May 29, the Russian government approved talks between Roscosmos and NASA on the conclusion of a supplement to the agreement on cross-flights to the ISS.
In July 2022, Roscosmos and NASA signed an agreement as part of the ISS program on cross-flights that will be made by three Russian cosmonauts on U.S. Crew Dragon manned spacecraft and three U.S. astronauts on Russia's Soyuz MS in 2022-2024.