NASA hopes to collaborate with Russia in Artemis moon program

NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine said he still expected support from Russia’s space corporation in its Artemis moon program.

Bridenstine said that "the relationship between NASA and Roscosmos is solid” and emphasized that international partners will play a key role in NASA’s plan to land humans on the lunar surface by 2024 and construct a space station orbiting the moon, Reuters reported.

"I’ve got a good relationship with Dmitri Rogozin, so I’m hopeful that there are opportunities for us to continue to collaborate," Bridenstine said, referring to the general director of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos. 

NASA expects Russia to deliver its offer of an airlock for the Lunar Gateway, a planned outpost in lunar orbit to be built by a mix of private companies and countries and a key piece to the Artemis program.

For two decades the U.S. space relationship with Russia has been largely insulated from geopolitics on Earth, party due to NASA’s reliance on Soyuz launch vehicles for trips to the space station. NASA is now preparing to fly its astronauts on new space capsules from SpaceX and Boeing Co.