Russia withdraws from the International Space Station.
Russia on Tuesday announced that it will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) project after 2024.
This country has signaled the end of an era in one of the last remaining areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States. It was the newly appointed head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos who announced the decision in a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Tuesday.
Thus, he said, the company will instead focus on building its own orbital station. “We will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave this station after 2024 has been made,” the head of the space agency, Yury Borisov, was quoted as saying.
Russian officials have discussed pulling out of the project since at least 2021, citing “aging equipment and growing security risks.” The countries involved in the ISS agreed to use the station until 2024, and NASA planned to use the station until 2030.
But the ongoing rift between Moscow and Washington over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and a barrage of economic restrictions appear to have accelerated the withdrawal.
Last month, the former head of Roscomo, Dmitry Rogozin, said that talks on Russian involvement after 2024 are possible only if US sanctions against the Russian space industry and other sectors of the economy are lifted.