The Russian State Space Agency Roskosmos has agreed to sign a protocol with NASA in December to carry out joint space exploration programs. The new cooperation initiative was announced by the head of Roskosmos Anatoly Perminov after a ceremonial tea party with the space crew flying to the International Space Station in December.

The protocol is expected to list such areas of mutual cooperation as flights to asteroids, the exploration of the moon, and joint work in near-Earth orbits. 

The agreement will further set down the framework for NASA’s support of the interplanetary station Phobos-Grunt. The station will be controlled out of U.S.-based mission control facilities.

At the same time, Mr. Perminov made the announcement that the initial manned flight from the spaceport of Vostochny that is now under construction in the Amur region will not take place before 2018. The Russian space official also said that the Soyuz TMA-20 craft that is scheduled to take the new crew to the International Space Station underwent modification, as its descent capsule was replaced. All of the flight instruments on the spaceship have also been changed out.