Russia's space agency Roscosmos has no plans to increase the number of piloted and cargo missions to the International Space Station (ISS) after the conclusion of the U.S. shuttle program, the head of Roscosmos said on Wednesday, RIA Novosti reports.
"We are not planning to increase the number of piloted space flights and the overall number of spacecraft [sent to ISS] after the shuttles are grounded," Anatoly Perminov said in an interview with the Voice of Russia radio.
"At present, we launch four piloted spacecraft and five freighters per year. I believe it is sufficient [to satisfy the needs of the orbital station]," he said.
NASA plans to scrap the shuttle program by the fall this year. The U.S. space agency says the shuttles are outdated and too expensive to maintain. There are two scheduled shuttle flights remaining - Endeavour will be launched to the ISS in April, while Atlantis is expected to travel to the orbital station in late June.
Russian Soyuz and Progress spacecraft will take the bulk of crew rotation and cargo missions to the ISS after NASA stops launching its shuttles.
Russkiy Mir Foundation Information Service
