As president, Donald Trump has openly supported improving ties between the United States and Russia. He recently called Russia’s removal from the G7 a “mistake” and has approached sanctions and tariffs on Moscow more leniently than past administrations. That warming stance has raised questions about the future of U.S. and Russia space cooperation, especially beyond their longstanding partnership on the International Space Station (ISS).
Despite geopolitical tensions, NASA and Roscosmos have continued close collaboration aboard the ISS. In April, top officials from both agencies met at the Baikonur Cosmodrome and agreed to extend crew-sharing arrangements through 2027. NASA affirmed that the ISS remains a zone of smooth, professional operation. Cross-flights continue, with U.S. astronauts flying on Russian rockets and vice versa. However, the partnership has a firm end date. NASA plans to deorbit the ISS by 2031, leaving both countries to explore new paths for cooperation—or separation.
Notably, Russia has opted out of NASA’s Artemis moon program. Instead, it has partnered with China to build a separate lunar base. Russia’s lunar ambitions include seven missions, with early stages focused on robotic exploration at the moon’s poles. The country aims to place rovers and eventually construct a manned outpost. Still, most of this effort will unfold independently of the U.S.
While cooperation on the moon seems unlikely, some Russian scientists see Venus as a potential shared interest. The Soviet Union remains the only nation to land spacecraft on Venus. Roscosmos officials have expressed confidence about returning. One researcher, Lev Zelenyi, suggests joint missions to Venus could be mutually beneficial. He proposes scientific meetings between NASA and Roscosmos under their national academies to discuss collaboration.
However, such optimism faces steep obstacles. The U.S. government has prioritized other missions and proposed canceling two planned NASA Venus projects. Russia’s war in Ukraine also complicates any cooperation. Western sanctions and economic stress have delayed key Russian space projects and shrunk its technical workforce. These challenges limit Russia’s ability to offer meaningful contributions in joint efforts.
Russian aerospace analyst Vadim Lukashevich points out that early lunar planning assumed international help, especially from NASA. Russia was expected to build habitable modules for the Gateway project, a lunar space station. But those plans collapsed after the Ukraine invasion, and NASA’s Gateway now proceeds without Russia.
Delays have plagued Russia’s crewed spacecraft program. The Orel capsule—under development since 2012—won’t launch before 2028. The supporting Angara-A5 rocket is still in design. Meanwhile, the larger Yenisei superheavy rocket has been put on hold due to budget cuts. Russia now targets an undefined moon landing date in the 2030s.
Russia’s robotic missions have also faltered. ESA withdrew from several planned lunar collaborations in 2022, following the Ukraine war. Russia launched the Luna-25 lander in 2023, but it crashed during a critical maneuver. The ExoMars mission, once a joint project with ESA, now faces indefinite delays.
Given these setbacks, Russia’s need for partnerships is growing. But the appeal for collaboration is shrinking. In past decades, Russia’s space technology, especially in launch systems and modules, attracted global interest. Today, those advantages have diminished. The U.S. no longer depends on Russian RD-180 engines, having shifted to domestically made alternatives for the Atlas V rocket since 2024.
According to Pavel Koshkin of the Russian Academy of Sciences, this shift reflects a broader trend. The U.S. is distancing itself from Russian space hardware, regardless of Trump’s friendlier posture toward Moscow. As a result, opportunities for U.S. and Russia space cooperation may continue to fade—even as both nations look beyond Earth.
Russia’s space ambitions remain bold, but its path forward depends on outside help. With limited budgets, aging infrastructure, and strained diplomacy, finding that help is harder than ever. Despite shared interests like Venus, the current political and economic climate leaves the future of space collaboration uncertain.
