If Soyuz spacecraft are not built, it will not be possible to launch humans to the space station and it will be necessary to abandon it
Russian space agency Energia has warned that it will be left with money just to launch two more Soyuz spacecraft, unless it receives funds soon. The situation creates a serious problem for future access to the International Space Station. The spacecraft manufacturer requires advance funding to pay the subcontractors who will produce components for the next Soyuz spacecraft, so unless a solution to the funding problem is found, the launch of the 19th crew to the space station, aboard the Soyuz TMA-15 spacecraft, around May 2009, could be the last.
"We have spacecraft and funding for them only for the next two flights, and I don't know what will happen to the crews that will have to fly after that," said Vassily Lopota at a press conference on Friday. "We don't have a budget to produce even one more Soyuz spacecraft, unless we get a loan or an advance in the next two or three weeks. If we do not accept, we will not be able to take responsibility for the production of the next Soyuz." As far as is known, the company did not receive guarantees from the Russian government to obtain a commercial loan from banks.
On Friday, the Soyuz TMA-12 spacecraft landed with cosmonauts Sergey Volkov and Oleg Kononenko, and the American space tourist Richard Garriott. The spacecraft was docked at the space station for six months, the time of the arrival of the two cosmonauts. Garriott launched into space on October 12 aboard the Soyuz TMA-13 spacecraft along with the 18th crew. Friday's landing was the smoothest since TMA-9. The spacecraft TMA-10 (which landed on October 21, 2007 and TMA-11 which landed on April 19, 2008) suffered from separation problems that resulted in a ballistic, i.e. almost uncontrolled, landing.
Soyuz spacecraft are the main means of transportation to and from the Hillel Station, and when NASA retires the space shuttles in 2010, it will remain the only vehicle that Americans will be able to use to board the station, during the five-year gap between the cessation of shuttle flights and the start of use of the Constellation spacecraft (planned for 2015), as if this were not complicated enough, the American funding for the flights was almost never given due to the restrictions imposed on the sale of military equipment to Russia, due to the sale of weapons and nuclear knowledge to Iran. Congress authorized NASA to purchase two more Soyuz spacecraft to ensure continued communication with the space station in 2011, but the decision will be meaningless if there are no Soyuz spacecraft available.
Even so, there will be no options for cargo launches to the station except through Russian Progress spacecraft and European cargo spacecraft, now the future of manned flights is also in danger.
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