NASA to Buy Two Seats for its Astronauts Aboard Russian Soyuz Spacecraft

The US space agency intends to buy two seats for its astronauts aboard Russian Soyuz spacecraft for a flight to the International Space Station (ISS), TASS reported.

“NASA’s purchase of a seat on a future private astronaut mission of no more than four total crew members helps both foster the low Earth orbit economy as well as provides NASA an additional way to meet its needs for research aboard the International Space Station,” the agency said in a Nov. 26 statement about its plans.

The flight of one of the crew members is scheduled for the autumn of 2020. The second one will probably take off during the spring of 2021. "

NASA ISS Representative Gary Jordan announced on Nov. 19 that the US space agency intends to purchase additional seats on the Soyuz vessels, but without specifying the amount.