> Up until May of last year the United States didn't even have human launch capability NASA could have kept the Shuttle after 2011 if there were no other optio

> Up until May of last year the United States didn't even have human launch capability NASA could have kept the Shuttle after 2011 if there were no other options. They figured they could rely on Soyuz for a few years until Starliner and Crew Dragon were ready. It's worth noting that during this time Roscosmos, like a true capitalist, jacked up Soyuz seat price to $90 million from the low of $21.3 million - [0] [0] - https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/10/13/nasa-uses-final-purchased-soyuz-seat-for-wednesday-flight-to-station/ https://spaceflightnow.com/2020/10/13/nasa-uses-final-purcha...