The head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, has arrived in the United States for the first high-level talks with NASA leadership since 2018, according to a statement from Roscosmos released Tuesday.
Bakanov is set to meet with U.S. Transportation Secretary and acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy in Houston to discuss the future of International Space Station (ISS) operations, including its eventual deorbiting, and the ongoing NASA-Roscosmos cross-flight agreement that allows mixed crews on U.S. and Russian spacecraft, News.Az reports, citing foreign media.
While NASA has not yet confirmed the meeting, Bakanov’s visit marks a rare moment of direct cooperation between the two space powers amid otherwise tense diplomatic relations.
Bakanov's agenda includes visits to NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Boeing facilities where the CST-100 Starliner spacecraft is under development. He is also expected to meet the crew of NASA’s Crew-11 mission, including Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov, who is scheduled to launch no earlier than July 31.
The visit comes amid renewed calls within Russia to expand cooperation with U.S. space companies, including SpaceX, despite worsening political tensions over the war in Ukraine.
This is the first face-to-face meeting between the space agencies’ top officials since a 2018 encounter, when the U.S. temporarily lifted entry restrictions for then-Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin.
Space exploration remains one of the few areas of sustained collaboration between Russia and the United States. Ties had slightly improved following Donald Trump’s return to the presidency and his outreach to Moscow, but relations have soured again in recent weeks as the U.S. criticizes Russia’s refusal to engage in Ukraine peace talks and ongoing strikes on Ukrainian cities.
