July 29 (Reuters) - The head of Russian space agency

Roscosmos, Dmitry Bakanov, has arrived in Houston for talks with

the interim head of NASA, Sean Duffy - the first in-person

meeting at the agencies' heads level since 2018, Russian news

agencies reported on Tuesday.

Talks between Bakanov, the head of Roscosmos since February,

and U.S. Transportation Secretary Duffy, whom President Donald

Trump named as NASA's interim head earlier this month, are

scheduled for July 31, Russia's TASS state news agency reported.

"The parties plan to discuss ongoing joint projects," TASS

reported, citing a Roscosmos statement.

The space program is one of the few international projects

on which the United States and Russia still cooperate closely.

Relations in other areas between the two countries have broken

down since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"We plan to discuss the continuation of the cross-flight

program, the extension of the International Space Station's

operational life, and the work of the Russia-U.S. joint task

force on the future safe deorbiting and controlled ocean

disposal of the ISS," TASS cited Bakanov as saying in the

Roscosmos statement.

Bakanov met with NASA Associate Administrator for Space

Operations Ken Bowersox in April at the Russian-operated

Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, according to TASS.

But the last meeting between the heads of Roscosmos and NASA

took place in October 2018, when Dmitry Rogozin, then director

general of Roscosmos, met NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine in

person also at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, according to Russian

media.

Bakanov, together with NASA officials, will visit divisions

of the Johnson Space Center and Boeing's ( BA ) production

facility for talks with the company's space program leadership,

RIA agency reported.

On the eve of the launch of NASA's SpaceX Crew-11 flight,

scheduled for July 31, Bakanov will meet with the crew of the

Crew Dragon spacecraft, which includes Roscosmos cosmonaut Oleg

Platonov, RIA reported.

In the early days after Trump's return to office in January,

Russia and the U.S. moved closer to restore relations, but the

U.S. president has since grown impatient with Moscow, giving

Russia on Monday 10-12 days to make progress toward ending the

war in Ukraine.