The United States and Russia announced Friday to resume their joint flights to the International Space Station (ISS), confirming the continuation of their cooperation in the space sector, one of the last on which the two countries still agree since the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

Two American astronauts will fly on Russian Soyuz rockets on two separate missions, NASA said, indicating that two Russian cosmonauts will fly on SpaceX rockets, a first.

Such an exchange had been planned for a long time, but was still awaiting final validation from Russia.

It had seemed compromised after the start of the war in Ukraine, but NASA officials had repeated in recent weeks that they hoped it would take place.

In the "interest" of both countries

American astronaut Frank Rubio will fly aboard a Soyuz rocket scheduled for takeoff on September 21 from Kazakhstan, along with two Russian cosmonauts.

And Anna Kikina, the only active female cosmonaut, will be part of the Crew-5 crew, which also includes two Americans and a Japanese.

They are to take off in September with a SpaceX rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

Russia's Roscosmos space agency said the deal was in the "interests" of both countries.

It “aims to ensure that in the event of an emergency situation related to the cancellation or significant delay of the launch of a Russian or American spacecraft, the presence of at least one cosmonaut from Roscosmos and one astronaut from NASA on board the ISS is assured,” the Russian agency wrote in a statement.

According to NASA, American astronaut Loral O'Hara will also fly aboard a Russian spacecraft, and cosmonaut Andrei Fedyaev will take his place in a SpaceX rocket as a member of Crew-6, both during missions planned for the spring 2023.

Change at Roscosmos

The announcement came hours after Vladimir Putin dismissed Roscosmos boss Dmitry Rogozin from his post.

Since the Russian offensive against Ukraine, he has distinguished himself by his very bellicose declarations towards the West.

A spokesman for Vladimir Putin said the change did not mean the Russian president was unhappy with Mr Rogozin's work, however.

According to an independent media, the latter could be promoted and in charge of the occupied territories in Ukraine.

Since the start of the war in Ukraine, Dmitry Rogozin has constantly protested against the drastic sanctions imposed by the United States against Moscow, affecting in part the Russian aerospace industry.

This week, the European Space Agency (ESA) for its part announced that it would put a definitive end to its cooperation with Russia on the joint ExoMars mission, which had already been suspended for several months.

Denouncing a "sabotage", Dmitri Rogozine had asked the Russian crew of the ISS to stop working with the robotic arm of the ESA, dedicated to the Russian segment of the flying observatory.

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