An American-built satellite will be launched from Russia next month and U.S. astronauts eventually could fly on Soyuz rockets, a sign of Russian-U.S. cooperation made official by Presidents Bush and Boris Yeltsin.
The newly signed statement on space cooperation said the two countries would work together on space exploration, development of an orbiting space station, applications of space and use of space technology.The agreement clears the way for an Inmarsat satellite to be launched from Russia in July.
"This would mark the first time a U.S.-manufactured commercial satellite would be launched from Russia," said a White House statement Wednesday.
NASA was awarding a contract to the Russian aerospace firm NPO-Energia.
In addition, 1993 missions could include Russian cosmonauts on a U.S. space shuttle crew and American astronauts on a flight to the Soviet-built Mir space station.
A rendezvous-docking mission involving the space shuttle and Mir could take place in 1994 or 1995.