Roscosmos refused to be “jealous” of the UAE because of the choice of NASA to continue further training of astronauts at the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center, RIA Novosti reported, citing the state corporation.
The interlocutor of the agency said that Roskosmos “was aware of the plans of the Emirate partners to develop cooperation with the Americans even before the preparation of their cosmonauts for flight” on the Russian Soyuz MS-15.
“We do not see any reasons for jealousy here,” the state corporation said, noting that “the UAE is committed to maintaining and strengthening its regional leadership in space activities, and this high bar simply obliges them to maintain active contacts and develop interaction with all the big space players. “
Roscosmos added that they hope to continue cooperation with the UAE.
Earlier in September, the United Arab Emirates Mohammed bin Rashid Space Center selected NASA to continue training its own astronauts for possible flights to the International Space Station (ISS). According to the Khaleej Times, on September 21, Hazzaa Al-Mansuri and Sultan Al-Neyadi began training for flights to the ISS at NASA's Lyndon Johnson Space Center in Houston, USA. Two more astronauts from the UAE are to undergo similar training at NASA.
In September 2019, the first UAE astronaut Hazzaa Al-Mansuri went to the ISS on the Soyuz MS-15 spacecraft, who, together with Sultan Al-Neyadi, underwent appropriate training at the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center (part of Roscosmos).
