13 February 2026 year, during a press conference after the launch of Crew-12, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman said, who is interested in meeting with his Russian counterpart and attending the upcoming Soyuz launch, planned for the summer (from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan). The Soyuz MS-29 mission will deliver NASA astronaut Anil Menon and Roskosmos cosmonauts Pyotr Dubrov and Anna Kikina to the ISS.
The last two meetings at the level of the heads of the US and Russian space agencies took place in October 2018 during the launch of Soyuz MS-10 and in July 2025 a year before the launch of Crew-11. After the July meeting, the general director of Roscosmos, Dmytro Bakanov, told the Russian media, which is working to expand collaboration with NASA beyond the International Space Station (ISS), which is currently the only joint project between the agencies due to US sanctions, introduced after the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 year. Last year, Bakanov invited acting NASA administrator Duffy to Moscow, however, the meeting did not take place. From my side, Isaacman stated, that his attention in any discussions with Roskosmos will remain on the level of cooperation regarding the ISS.
The announcement of intentions regarding a potential meeting with the head of Roscosmos took place two days after that, as Isaakman met with the leader of one of the closest management partners — the European Space Agency (ЕКА). According to the results of the negotiations, Isaakman said, that ESA remains a key partner in a significant part of NASA's portfolio and its input will be important as we build a sustainable lunar stay and prepare for missions beyond. ESA Director General Josef Aschbacher also reported a very constructive discussion on space exploration and common goals: Month, low earth orbit and mars.
Source: https://spacenews.com