The Russian Space Program Is Falling Back to Earth

The new crew arrived at the International Space Station last week, all smiles and floating hair. There was, as usual, a little welcome ceremony, with heartfelt remarks from the newcomers streamed live for the people they left behind on Earth. A few of the astronauts floated above the others and turned upside down, hanging like bats, so that their beaming faces would fit into the frame.

But this latest trip was different: For the first time, a Russian cosmonaut had traveled to the space station on an American SpaceX capsule launched into orbit from Florida. The ride was the result of between the United States and Russia. Before 2020, when NASA started using SpaceX to reach the ISS, the space agency had on Russia’s astronaut-transport system, the Soyuz, paying millions of dollars a seat. Now American astronauts will fly on Soyuz, and Russian cosmonauts on SpaceX, with no money exchanged between the two countries.