Dmitry Bakanov, head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency, arrived in Houston on July 29, 2025, for his first in-person meeting with NASA leaders since 2018. He is scheduled to meet acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy on July 31.
The two will discuss ongoing cooperation on the International Space Station (ISS), plans for its future deorbiting, and the cross-flight program allowing Russian cosmonauts to fly on U.S. spacecraft and American astronauts on Russia’s Soyuz rockets.
These talks come amid tense U.S.-Russia relations due to the Ukraine conflict, making space collaboration a rare area of partnership between the two nations.
Bakanov will also meet the NASA Crew-11 mission team, including Russian cosmonaut Oleg Platonov. The crew, which includes U.S. astronauts Zena Cardman and Michael Fink, and Japanese astronaut Kimiya Yui, is set to launch on July 31 aboard SpaceX’s Crew Dragon from Cape Canaveral.
His visit includes tours of NASA’s Johnson Space Center and Boeing’s CST-100 Starliner production facility. Roscosmos plans to develop a reusable rocket similar to SpaceX’s to reduce launch costs, with Bakanov mentioning a two-year timeline for the project.
The ISS, operational since 1998, is expected to remain in service until at least 2028. Its deorbiting process will take about 2.5 years.
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