“As much as possible, according to the existing grid, NASA astronauts can qualify for the GS-15 federal employee category, which is equivalent to the rank of colonel or naval captain in the military. The annual salary at these positions is approximately $ 155 thousand (about $ 13 thousand per month), ”RIA Novosti quoted Kelly as saying.

The astronaut left NASA in 2016, making four flights into space, including an expedition to the ISS.

Earlier, the Izvestia newspaper, citing the press service of the Roskosmos state corporation, reported that in Russia the salary of a candidate for cosmonauts is 60.9 thousand rubles, that of an astronaut - 63.8 thousand rubles, and the instructor-cosmonaut receives 88, 45 thousand rubles.

At the same time, the cosmonauts also have various additional salary supplements.

It was noted that, in general, their salary is comparable to the salaries of astronauts NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), the Japan Aerospace Research Agency (JAXA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA).