Trump's NASA Chief Sean Duffy Set To Hold Talks With Russia Over Space Issues: Report

Acting NASA Administrator and U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is set to hold talks with his Russian counterpart over "space issues" later this week.

What Happened: Duffy will hold talks with Roscosmos head, Dmitry Bakanov, in a first high-level meeting between the two heads of the space agencies since 2018, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

"We have wild disagreement with the Russians on Ukraine. We’re going to continue to build alliances and partnerships and friendships as humanity continues to advance in space exploration," Duffy told reporters.

Duffy also highlighted cooperation between the two countries on the International Space Station.

"We plan to discuss the continuation of the cross-flight program, the extension of the International Space Station’s operational life," Bakanov said in a statement cited in the report by Reuters, adding that the two nations would also collaborate on "safe deorbiting" of the ISS in the future.

Why It Matters: The news comes as Duffy was named interim NASA administrator by President Donald Trump, through a post on Truth Social, hailing the "tremendous" work by Duffy on handling the U.S.'s transportation affairs.

Trump had earlier withdrawn the nomination of Jared Isaacman, a close associate of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, citing Isaacman's previous political associations.

Elsewhere, NASA is planning to cut down nearly 4,000 jobs in the agency, or 20% of its workforce, through the voluntary resignation program. NASA says the agency's workforce would be down to 14,000 by the end of the year.

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Image Via Shutterstock/Nadezda Murmakova