The book tells about the collective work on the space project of specialists from Russia and France On the beginning of the declassification of the Soviet space industry . The first steps towards combining the creative and production efforts of different countries and their vanguard technical specialists The project of the flight of the French cosmonaut on the Soviet ship and station with the program of on-board space experiments coincided with the beginning of perestroika. This period was difficult for Russian cosmonautics. In the conditions of insufficient funding, it was necessary not to lose experience and personnel. But there were other “internal” problems: views, concepts and approaches to solving extraterrestrial problems have changed. It was not easy to decide on such a risky step as the exit of the Frenchman into outer space with work on the outer shell of the station. From opposition and competition with foreign specialists, it was necessary to move to openness of business cooperation and contacts.