Russian Space Agency Head: "US Space Shuttles to Could Continue Beyond 2011"

Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov said earlier today in Moscow that the United States will continue utlization of the space shuttle fleet beyond 2011 saying: "We have received information from certain sources that the use of space shuttles could be extended beyond 2011." Perminov added that this information arrived through unofficial channels, according to Interfax.

While there has been no official word about President Barack Obama's civil or commercial space policy plans, debate in Washington is expected to take on renewed intensity by a number of factors: 1] new findings of water on the Moon; 2] several commercial space launch firms planning crewed-capsules; 3] the test flight of NASA's Ares-1 X next month; and, 4] European and Russian partner pressure to sustain the International Space Station beyond 2015; and, 5] resumption of human flights by China's taikonauts next year and the planned spaceflights of India's gaganauts in 2015.