(Moscow) Russia will withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own station in orbit, the country’s new space chief said on Tuesday.
Posted at 8:39
Updated at 9:04 a.m.
Yuri Borisov, who was named head of state-controlled space company Roscosmos earlier this month, told a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia would fulfill its obligations to other partners. of the International Space Station before leaving the project.
PHOTO MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Yuri Borisov (right) with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been taken,” Borisov said.
Borisov’s remarks reaffirmed previous statements by Russian space officials about Moscow’s intention to leave the space outpost after 2024.
The move comes amid growing tensions between Russia and the West over the Kremlin’s military action in Ukraine.
Despite the rift, NASA and Roscosmos reached an agreement earlier this month for astronauts to continue flying Russian rockets and for Russian cosmonauts to fly to the International Space Station with SpaceX starting this fall.
The deal ensures the space station will always have at least one American and one Russian on board to keep both sides of the orbiting outpost running smoothly, according to NASA and Russian officials. The exchange had been in the works for a long time and was finalized despite friction over Ukraine, which represents a sign of continued cooperation between Russia and the United States in space.
Some facts about the International Space Station
- Launched November 20, 1998;
- A project that brings together five space agencies: NASA (United States) Roscosmos (Russia) JAXA (Japan) the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency;
- As of April 2022, 251 astronauts, cosmonauts and space tourists from 20 different nations have visited the ISS;
- In January 2022, NASA announced that the ISS would cease operations in January 2031. Debris would fall into the South Pacific.