Russia May Build Space Center in Cuba...

Strengthening ties between Russia and Cuba is a cause for concern among the U.S. government...

As political tensions between the United States and Russia remain at a high level, Russia Federal Space Agency chief Anatoly Perminov confirmed that the Russian space agency is in talks to help Cuba build a space center.

"We have held preliminary discussions about the possibility of creating a space center in Cuba with our help," Perminov told Itar-Tass. "With our Cuban colleagues, we discussed the possibilities of joint use of space equipment ... and the joint use of space communications systems."

Cuban specialists are scheduled to visit Russia and tour several facilities where they'll be shown Russian space technologies. Cuba also has shown interest in using the Glonass satellite navigation system, but neither side said how discussions are going.

Even though politics have become a bit more acceptable with Raul Castro now in power, it seems like building a space center in Cuba is designed solely to annoy NASA and the U.S. government -- and possibly create a next-generation Cuban missile crisis, many people fear.

Russian government officials said their aim is to help "renew" ties with Cuba that came undone when the Soviet Union collapsed. Stronger ties between Russia and Cuba have concerned U.S. intelligence officials, who are worried about the two nations recreating a strong military and intelligence cooperation.

Both the United States and NASA are treading water carefully when it comes to Russia, as NASA will likely rely on Russian space craft to take astronauts to the International Space Station (ISS) and transport supplies into space. Unless NASA delays the retirement of its current shuttle fleet, there will be four or five years where NASA will be unable to send astronauts into orbit without assistance.

Before the conflict with Georgia, the U.S. planned on giving Russia millions as a transportation fee, but political tensions have caused politicians to think twice about the proposed deal.

It remains unclear if the United States is going to officially retire the shuttle in 2010 and rely on Russia, delay the shuttle retirement a couple of years, or try and go the entire duration until Orion without sending astronauts or supplies into space.