Washington is interested in cooperation with Moscow in the space sector even after the decommissioning of the International Space Station (ISS), said former NASA Deputy Administrator Charles Vincent.
“We have the money to produce equipment, but we need Russian specialists to decide what it should be“, Vincent emphasized.
“The Russians are much more advanced than us in terms of the volume of theoretical research conducted by Russian scientists in the field of space”, he added.
Vincent noted that various options are currently being considered for the creation of a new orbital complex within the framework of international cooperation. "There is certainly a new space station planned, which I understand will be better than the current ISS," he said.
The ISS has been in orbit since November 20, 1998. The station weighs about 435 tons, and with docked ships it can reach 470 tons. The project involves Russia, Canada, the United States, Japan and 10 member states of the European Space Agency (Belgium, Germany, Denmark, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, France, Sweden and Switzerland).