Russia will retire from the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and focus on building its own orbital outpost, the country’s space chief has said, in a move that will end a symbolic two-decade orbital partnership between Moscow and the West .
Yuri Borisov, the newly appointed head of the Roscosmos space agency, said during a meeting with Vladimir Putin that Russia would fulfill its obligations to its ISS partners before leaving the project.
“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borissov said, to which Putin replied: “Okay.”
Borisov’s statement confirmed earlier declarations made by the previous head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, about Moscow’s intention to leave the station after 2024. The outspoken Rogozin threatened to end the partnership unless the US, EU and Canada lifted their sanctions against companies involved in Russian space industry.
Sign up for First Edition, our free daily newsletter – every weekday morning at 7am BST.
The first version of the ISS was launched in 1998, and astronauts from a number of Western countries and Russia have lived there continuously since 2002, the longest continuous human presence in low Earth orbit in history. The station was widely seen as a symbol of the post-Cold War partnership between the two space superpowers Russia and the United States. Speaking in 2001 alongside then-US President George W. Bush, Putin praised the ICC as an example of “very successful” bilateral ties between the two countries.
Soon after Borisov’s meeting with Putin, Roscosmos released an image on its social media channels of what it said was a plan for its own orbital outpost. The plan says the space station will initially accommodate two Russian astronauts, eventually expanding to four.
A senior NASA official told Reuters on Tuesday that Russia had not communicated its intention to withdraw from the ISS.
Despite widespread condemnation of Russia’s actions in Ukraine, space remains one of the last avenues for cooperation between Moscow and the West.
NASA and Roscosmos struck a deal this month for astronauts to continue riding on Russian rockets and for Russian cosmonauts to catch elevators to the ISS with private U.S. rocket company SpaceX starting in the fall.
The agreement ensures that the ISS will always have at least one American and one Russian on board to keep both sides running smoothly, NASA and Russian officials said.
Still, Borissov’s latest announcement to leave the ISS will come as no surprise given Moscow’s growing isolation. The Russian space agency sparked controversy this month when it released photos of its astronauts aboard the ISS celebrating Moscow’s takeover of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk.
Add Comment