Russia plans to end dependence on U.S. satellites for communication with ISS -

Russia plans to end its dependence on U.S. satellites for communications with the International Space Station. Currently, the Russian segment of the station is in direct contact with Russian controllers only when the station is passing over Russian ground stations, relying the rest of the time on NASA satellite links. The head of the Reshetnev Information Satellite Systems company said that Ku-band links between the Russian segment and the Luch family of relay satellites should be in place by the end of this year. More

(Source: SpaceNews - May 17)