Earlier, President George Bush said that Washington was going to wind up work on the ISS by 2010 and in 2015 the United States was going to start preparations for manned missions to the Moon.
"Nobody knows whether the Americans will fly there. We have our own spaceships and a new European transport ship for the ISS will appear soon. We can work out our own scheme of ISS service with Europe. It is not a problem, even if the Americans decide to go", Perminov said.
In this connection, the head of the FSA recalled the uncertainty after the American Columbia shuttle catastrophe and the ensuing moratorium on ISS shuttle service.
"Unfortunately, the Americans keep delaying the resumption of flights to the ISS, which alarms European partners. Talking to them, I have become convinced that they do not believe in the U.S.-set deadline of the resumption of flights. But I have to believe NASA chief Sean O'Keefe promising, during his recent visit to Moscow, to resume shuttle service", Anatoli Perminov said.
Asked what will be the ISS configuration after it is finished, Perminov said that "the position of Russia is that the ISS has to be finished as provided for in the international agreements".
Anatoli Perminov also noted that he is sceptical over the United States' capability to arrange Martian flights single-handedly in a short time. "I don't think that Martian flights can be handled single-handedly by even such a well-to-do country as the United States. It is a very complicated programme, which can be coped with by only a combined effort of the whole world", the FSA head believes.
Russia does not have to invest in the project of Martian development, Perminov noted. "It is enough to invest our scientific expertise, which exceeds the entire foreign experience in many directions", he stressed.
