How much does NASA pay for each ticket to space?

The US Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has to accept huge costs to borrow Russian Soyuz ships on trips to the space station and return to Earth.

After stopping using the shuttle in 2011, NASA now has to hire the Russian Soyuz spacecraft to bring astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and return to Earth with increasing costs over time. , according to Business Insider.

The Russian Soyuz spacecraft is used to transport NASA astronauts to the ISS station.(Photo: NASA).

While US airline companies like SpaceX and Boeing are still struggling to build, test and wait for the government to approve two new spacecraft designs like Dragon and CST-100 Starliner , Soyuz is still the only option. by NASA and other organizations such as the Japanese Space Agency (JAXA), the European Space Agency (ESA).

The cost increases with the years that NASA has to pay for Russia.(Photo: NASA).

Although the Russian space agency Roscosmos has several times upgraded the design of the Soyuz vessel in the past decades, the layout on the ship has remained almost unchanged. However, the cost for each astronaut chair that Roscosmos collected from foreign space agencies has increased dramatically in recent times.

In a report released on September 1, NASA's Inspector Department (OIG) released NASA's Roscosmos fee-comparison table since 2006 and the expected cost in the near future. Accordingly, NASA had to pay $ 21.8 million for each astronaut on the Soyuz ship in 2007 and 2008 . Immediately after NASA stopped the shuttle launch program, this fee increased significantly over the years.

Astronauts are crammed into tight spaces on the Soyuz.(Photo: NASA).

In 2016 , the Soyuz shipping fee was about $ 70 million , but by 2018 , NASA and its partners will have to pay about $ 81 million to bring an astronaut to the ISS and return to Earth by ship. Soyuz.

With a " ticket" of $ 81 million, the astronauts are assured of safety, but have to endure the tight space between aviation electronic and cargo electronics for a period of 6 to 48 hours. Soyuz.

This fee increased by 372% within 10 years and the total cost of NASA to pay for Roscosmos after 12 years was about 3.72 billion USD, while the price that NASA accepted to pay for each astronaut seat on the spacecraft SpaceX and Boeing are only $ 58 million.