Russia reverses threat to walk away from International Space Station by 2024

Russia earlier announced plans of building its own version of a space station

Russia has announced that it will leave the International Space Station in 2028, reversing its earlier decision to quit in 2024.

Russian space agency Roscosmos had said in July last year that it will opt out of its collaboration in the international project after 2024 and focus insted on building its own space station.

“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov had earlier said amid growing tensions between Russia and the West over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.

He, however, said on Wednesday that Roscosmos is extending its participation in the international space project.

“By the decision of the government, the operation of the International Space Station has been extended until 2028,” the Russian space agency chief told president Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

Despite growing tensions between Russia and the US, the two countries have continued to collaborate in managing the orbiting laboratory.

In February, Nasa officials traveled to Kazakhstan to observe the emergency launch of a Russian rescue rocket carrying a replacement capsule to the ISS after a dangerous coolant leak was detected in Russia’s Soyuz segment aboard the space station.

Nasa space operations boss Kathy Lueders had earlier said the relationship between the two space agencies remained “business as usual” in a hint that the collaboration was expected to happen until 2028.

Russia has, however, also initiated plans to build its own version of the orbiting laboratory.

In August, it unveiled a model of its proposed space station “ROSS” at “Army-2022”, a military-industrial exhibition outside Moscow, although no specific dates have been announced for its launch.

Russian state media reports suggest the first stage launch of ROSS is planned for 2025-26, and no later than 2030, while the launch of the second and final stage is expected for 2030-35.

The Ukraine war may also be in the way of Russia’s space station progress, as several countries have imposed a number of economic sanctions against Moscow.

US president Joe Biden said last year that Russia’s move to pull away from the ISS would “degrade their space programme”.

However, both Nasa and Roscosmos have made a deal to continue sending astronauts to the space station in Russian rockets and for Russian cosmonauts to travel to the ISS with SpaceX.

Nasa had revealed plans earlier of keeping the ISS active till 2030 with the help of partners like Europe, Japan and Canada.