Moscow. Russia will stop operating on the International Space Station (ISS) “after 2024,” the head of the Russian agency Roscosmos, Yuri Borissov, announced on Tuesday.
“We will certainly fulfill all our obligations to our partners” on the ISS, Borissov said during a televised meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“But the decision was made to leave this station after 2024,” said the scientist.
“I think that by then we will start to create the Russian orbital station”, which will be “the main priority” of the national space program, Borissov continued.
“The future of Russian manned flights must be based above all on a systemic and balanced scientific program so that each flight enriches us with knowledge in the space field,” stressed the head of Roscosmos.
Appointed head of Roscosmos in mid-July, Yuri Borissov replaced Dmitri Rogozin, known for his harsh style and unrestrained nationalism.
Until this appointment, Borissov, 65, held the portfolio of deputy prime minister in charge of the Russian military-industrial complex, which also includes the space sector.
“It is a great honor for me, but it also has additional obligations,” Borissov told Putin.
“The space field is in a difficult situation, and I believe that my main task (…) is not to lower the bar, but to raise it, above all by providing the necessary space services for the Russian economy,” he stressed, citing mainly navigation , communication and data transmission.
In 2020 Russia lost its monopoly on launching into space with its old but trusty Soyuz launchers and spacecraft following the arrival on the scene of SpaceX billionaire Elon Musk.
Russian-Western cooperation in space has also been hampered by the offensive launched by Russia on February 24 against Ukraine.
The Western sanctions adopted against Russia because of this offensive partly affect the Russian aerospace industry and put the International Space Station at risk, since some supplies could be interrupted.
The Russian space sector has been plagued for years by corruption and a lack of innovation.
US not has received official notification about departure from Russia
The United States has not received “any official notification” from Russia about its plans to leave the International Space Station after 2024, a NASA official said on Tuesday.
NASA itself plans to retire the ISS – a symbol of post-Cold War unity – after 2030 and switch to working with commercial space stations, said Robyn Gatens, NASA director for the orbiting station, suggesting that Russia could be thinking about your own transition.
Asked if he wanted the end of relations between the United States and Russia in space matters, he replied: “No, not at all.”
“They have been good partners, as are all of our partners, and we want to stay together as a partnership to continue operating the space station throughout this decade,” he said.
Until now, space exploration was one of the few areas where cooperation between Russia and the United States and its allies had not foundered on tensions over Ukraine and other disputes.
#Russia #stop #operating #ISS