By John Ikani
Russia on Tuesday said it will pull out of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, signaling the end of a joint project that has served as a key symbol of post-Cold War cooperation with Washington.
Yuri Borisov, the newly appointed head of the space agency Roscosmos, said during a meeting with Vladimir Putin that Russia would fulfil its obligations to its partners on the ISS before leaving the project.
“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said, to which Putin responded: “Good.”
Borisov, who was appointed by Putin earlier this month in a shake-up of the Russian space agency, said Russia would “begin to form” the proposed Russian Orbital Station (ROSS) as it exits the multilateral endeavour at a time of high tensions between Moscow and the West over the former’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The main priorities will be made on the creation of the Russian orbital station,” he told Putin.
Borisov’s statements reaffirmed previous declarations by Russian space officials about Moscow’s intention to leave the space outpost – a cooperative programme between Europe, the United States, Russia, Canada, and Japan – in the coming years.
US Space Agency NASA and other international partners hope to keep the space station running until 2030, while the Russians have been reluctant to make commitments beyond 2024.
NASA said it was yet to hear from Russia directly on its reported intent to withdraw from the ISS.
“We haven’t received any official word from the partner as to the news today,” Robyn Gatens, director of the ISS for NASA, said during an ISS conference in Washington.
The space station is jointly run by the space agencies of Russia, the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada. The first piece was put in orbit in 1998, and the outpost has been continuously inhabited for nearly 22 years. It is used to conduct scientific research in zero gravity and test out equipment for future space journeys.
It typically has a crew of seven, who spend months at a time aboard the station as it orbits about 250 miles from Earth. Three Russians, three Americans and one Italian are now on board.
The complex, which is about as long as a football field, consists of two main sections, one run by Russia, the other by the U.S. and the other countries. It was not immediately clear what will have to be done to the Russian side of the complex to continue safely operating the space station once Moscow pulls out.
The Russian announcement is certain to stir speculation that it is part of Moscow’s maneuvering to win relief from Western sanctions over the conflict in Ukraine.
Space experts said the departure from the International Space Station would seriously affect the country’s space sector and deal a major blow to the programme of manned flights, a major source of Russian pride.
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