America’s Axiom Space Pays Roscosmos in Rubles for Astronaut’s Flight

Russian state agency Roscosmos has received payment in rubles from the American company Axiom Space for the flight of NASA astronaut Mark Vande Hay on the Russian spacecraft Soyuz.

"We received full funding from not NASA, but specifically from Axiom, which acted as an intermediary in organizing this mission," Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with Russia 24 TV channel (VGTRK).

"Of course, we agreed that we only take in rubles," he said, answering the question whether the payment for the flight was made in rubles.

Rogozin said the payment was delayed by a month. "That is, there was a delay in payment, but nevertheless the funds came in full," Rogozin said.

On April 14, Rogozin reported that due to logistical problems, Axiom Space could not transfer payment to Roscosmos for the flight of the astronaut. "They have not yet transferred the money for it to us. And this is a decent amount, this is two billion rubles," he said.

Vande Hay arrived at the ISS on April 9 last year on the Soyuz MS-18 spacecraft, together with cosmonauts Oleg Novitsky and Petr Dubrov. Novitsky returned to earth in the fall, along with representatives of the "film crew" - actress Yulia Peresild and director Klim Shipenko, who arrived at the station with Shkaplerov on October 9, 2021 on Soyuz MS-19.

In March, the American media reported that due to U.S. sanctions against the Russian rocket and space industry, there may be problems with the return of Vande Hai to Earth, which should be provided by Roscosmos.

Soyuz MS-19 descent capsule carrying cosmonauts Petr Dubrov and Anton Shkaplerov and Vande Hay successfully landed in Kazakhstan on March 30.