Officials said on Sunday that Russia expects to extend the life of the International Space Station beyond 2015, although Moscow must bear the brunt of flights after the US retires its shuttles.

KOROLYOV, Moscow region. May 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The reason for the ballistic descent of the Soyuz TMA-11 spacecraft was the untimely separation of one of the spacecraft's modules, Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) manned programs division chief Alexei Krasnov told journalists on Wednesday.

KOROLYOV, Moscow region. April 11 (Interfax-AVN) - Vitaly Lopota, the president of the Energia space rocket corporation, said he believes space tourism is a forced measure compensating for insufficient financing of the Russian space program. "Tourism is a forced activity.

MOSCOW. Oct 3 (Interfax-AVN) - The 16th main expedition, to fly to the International Space Station (ISS) on October 10, is to assemble new elements on the station, Alexei Krasnov, the chief of the Russian Space Agency's manned flights program, told Interfax- AVN.

KOROLYOV (Moscow region). Sept 29 (Interfax-AVN) - The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) and NASA are discussing plans to deliver U.S.