Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin has confirmed that SpaceX's Crew Dragon is reliable enough for Russian cosmonauts. Mixed crews could fly on both SpaceX capsules and Russian Soyuz vehicles starting in 2022.
Speaking at a press conference during the 72nd International Astronautical Congress in Dubai on October 25, Rogozin announced plans to send Russian cosmonauts to the International Space Station (ISS) aboard SpaceX's Crew Dragon spacecraft.
This marks a significant shift from the previously tense dynamic between Rogozin and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Just weeks earlier, Rogozin had extended an invitation for Musk to visit Russia, signaling improving relations.
"SpaceX has accumulated sufficient experience for us to entrust our cosmonauts to the Crew Dragon," Rogozin stated, as reported by SpaceNews.
The plan complements rather than replaces Soyuz missions, aiming to pair NASA astronauts with Roscosmos cosmonauts on both U.S. and Russian vehicles.
Since the Crew Dragon's first crewed flight in May 2020, only one NASA astronaut has flown on Soyuz, with no Russian cosmonauts on U.S. vehicles. This changes with cosmonauts joining Crew Dragon missions and U.S. astronauts returning to Soyuz.
These cross-flights could begin in the second half of 2022 with SpaceX's Crew-5 mission, potentially including a NASA astronaut on Soyuz in fall 2022.
Rogozin's endorsement arrives amid Russia's plans to exit the ISS by 2025 after two decades of collaboration, with recent overtures toward China's new space station.
Meanwhile, NASA and SpaceX have cleared the Crew-3 mission for launch on October 31 from Kennedy Space Center, shortly after Thomas Pesquet's crew returns to Earth.
