俄羅斯將減少國際空間站撥款

Russian media say the government plans to cut the amount of money it spends on the International Space Station during the next decade.

俄羅斯媒體報道說，俄羅斯政府計劃削減在未來10年內用於國際空間站的開支。

The Izvestiya daily reports the latest budget drafts for 2016-25 include about $3.3 billion in spending on the station, or about $330 million a year. That is a 10 percent reduction from a previous draft in April.

俄羅斯《新聞報》報道，俄羅斯2016-25年的預算草案包括大約三十三億美元用於空間站，平均一年大約三億三千萬美元，比去年4月草案中撥款少了百分之十。

Russia's space agency is one of five that works together to operate the station with a rotating crew of astronauts that conduct experiments. Russia plays a key role in transporting the crew to and from the station, since the United States retired its fleet of vehicles to send astronauts into space.

俄羅斯宇航局是運營國際空間站的五個機構之一。國際空間站有來自不同國家的宇航員輪流到那裏進行科學試驗。美國接送宇航員所用的航天飛機退役後，俄羅斯發揮了在地球與空間站之間接送宇航員的重要作用。

The United States has funded the largest portion of the station's budget since it launched in 1998 and currently spends about $3 billion a year on the project.

國際空間站1998年發射升空以來，美國對空間站預算的貢獻最大，每年撥款約30億美元。