Flying into space is a great responsibility, but there is also financial motivation. According to Bloomberg, Russian cosmonauts earn around 5.5 million rubles during a six-month orbital expedition.
According to cosmonaut Sergey Ryazansky, his daily income during flight was about 400 dollars. Based on this, a standard six-month mission brings about 72 thousand dollars. This money is paid as bonuses for working in special space conditions and is given in addition to the base salary.
The basic monthly salary of Russian cosmonauts after the first flight (excluding bonuses and compensations) may be around 130–140 thousand rubles.
For comparison, NASA astronauts are federal employees: they continue receiving their regular salary even during flight, without special “space” bonuses. Their annual income is about 100–160 thousand dollars, and the additional daily payment is symbolic — about 5 dollars per day (around 1 thousand dollars in six months).
In short, in the US the salary hardly changes, while in Russia the main difference comes from daily payments and space bonuses.
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