Nasa says Congress cuts mean $490m is needed to buy rides on Russian rockets

Funding shortfall in programme to replace space shuttle means Soyuz remains the only way Americans can get to International Space Station, says Nasa chief

Nasa has said it is being forced to extended its contract with Russia to fly astronauts to the International Space Station, at a cost of nearly half a billion dollars, because budget cuts have delayed commercial US alternatives.

Taking the contract through 2017 would cost the United States about $490m, the Nasa chief, Charles Bolden, wrote in a letter to Congress.