Russia to increase cost of space rocket ride to US$63 million

Dunya News

The Russians will hike the price of rocket rides for US astronauts by nearly US$7 million in 2014.

According to NASA, the price for a US astronaut to fly to-and-fro the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft will go up in 2014. In the previous contract, Russia charged just under US$56 million for a US astronaut to be sent in space. The contract extension with the Russian Space Agency totals US$753 million which will covers trips for a dozen astronauts from 2014 through 2016.On the other hand, NASA chief Charles Bolden said that it is now critical for the US companies to take over this transportation job.