Russians hiking price of rocket rides for US astronauts – Nasa

The price for an astronaut to fly to and from the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft will go up in 2014, Nasa announced. The previous contract charged just under $56 million. The contract extension with the Russian Space Agency...

The price for an astronaut to fly to and from the International Space Station on a Russian Soyuz spacecraft will go up in 2014, Nasa announced.

The previous contract charged just under $56 million.

The contract extension with the Russian Space Agency totals $753 million. That covers trips for a dozen astronauts from 2014 through to 2016. Nasa officials said inflation was the reason for the latest price increase.

Nasa chief Charles Bolden said it was critical for US companies to take over this transportation job. Space shuttles used to do the job, but they are being retired this summer.

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