Yuri Borisov, the new head of Russia’s space agency ROSCOSMOS, has announced that Russia will leave the International Space Station by the year 2024. He made this announcement as soon as he took office.
Borisov said, ‘I think by that time we will start building a Russian orbiting station.’ Also informed President Vladimir Putin about this. Yuri said that we will leave the space station only after fulfilling the promises made to all our partners.’
Earlier, the head of the Russian Space Agency, Dmitry Rogozin, has also said such things. He said that he does not want to talk about it publicly. Explain that sanctions were imposed on Russia for attacking Ukraine. Angered by this, Russia said that it would be ejected from the International Space Station in the next two years.
The then Russian Space Agency chief Dmitry Rogozin informed that the decision had already been made, it was not necessary to talk publicly. Rogozin did not say when Russia’s participation in the ISS project would end, but did confirm that he would give at least one year’s notice.
Russian space analysts have already stated that Russia has never agreed to extend its participation in the ISS beyond 2024. The US space agency NASA and other international partners now want the project to be extended until at least 2030.
The space station is jointly operated by the space agencies of Russia, the US, Europe, Japan and Canada. The first piece was put into orbit in 1998, and the outpost has been continuously populated for nearly 22 years. It is used to conduct scientific research in zero gravity and to test equipment for future space travel. The Russian announcement is sure to fuel speculation that it is part of Moscow’s maneuver to seek relief from Western sanctions on the conflict in Ukraine.
Borisov’s predecessor, Dmitry Rogozin, said last month that Moscow could participate in talks about a possible expansion of the station’s operations if the U.S. Removes sanctions imposed on Russian space industries.
Elon Musk’s SpaceX company is now flying NASA astronauts to and from the space station. The Russian space agency has lost a huge source of income. For years NASA was paying tens of millions of dollars per seat to and from the station aboard a Russian rocket.