ship · alliance · billion (корабль · союз · млрд)

From 2006 to 2024, NASA spent over $3.6 billion purchasing seats on Russian Soyuz crewed spacecraft to transport astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS). According to the report, during this period, NASA acquired 68 seats from Roscosmos on Soyuz spacecraft.

Consensus

NASA paid over $3.6 billion to Roscosmos for seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft between 2006 and 2024
The total number of seats purchased was 68
After the Space Shuttle program ended in 2011, NASA relied on Russian Soyuz rockets as its only means of transporting astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS)
NASA also signed a cross-flight agreement with Roscosmos in July 2022 allowing Russian cosmonauts to fly aboard SpaceX Crew Dragon and American astronauts to fly aboard Russian Soyuz MS spacecraft

Points of divergence

NASA instructed the ISS crew to take shelter in their spacecraft due to a renewed air leak in the Russian segment of the station, with plans for partial or full evacuation if repairs fail. — vedomosti
Russian cosmonauts were attempting to fix an air leak occurring in the service module 'Zvezda' transition tunnel. — vedomosti
Cosmonauts Sergey Kud-Sverchkov and Sergey Malyayev completed a six-hour spacewalk on May 28, installing scientific equipment on the Zvezda module and removing hardware from the Nauka module. — vedomosti
Foreign partners of the ISS decided to extend its operation until 2030, despite Russia's previous announcement that it would only use its segment until 2028 in favor of building a new orbital station. — vedomosti

Coverage (2 sources)

NASA paid Roscosmos more than $3.6 billion for seats on Soyuz spacecraft — Коммерсантъ
NASA spent over $3.6 billion to purchase seats on Russian Soyuz spacecraft — Ведомости