MOSCOW, Shawwal 22, 1436, Aug 7, 2015, SPA -- NASA is extending its contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency to transport U.S. astronauts to the International Space Station, according to NASA Administrator Charles Bolden, Jr, UPI reported. Bolden sent a letter to congressional leaders Wednesday notifying them that continued reductions in NASA's budget necessitate the $490 million deal with Russia. This comes after years of limited funding for NASA's Commercial Crew Program -- a partnership with private companies to develop and fly human space transportation systems. Congress cut about $1 billion from Barack Obama's request for a Commercial Crew Program in the past five years, which pushed NASA's launch date to 2017. --SPA 11:49 LOCAL TIME 08:49 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w