Russia will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) project in 2025 and notify its foreign partners of the decision. State media quoted a senior government official as say.
Launched by the Russian and US space agencies in 1998, the ISS was a rare area of cooperation between Moscow and Washington amid the severely deteriorating relations. But the ISS, which has been continuously occupied for more than 20 years, is expected to retire around 2030.
When Russia celebrated the 60th anniversary of the launch last year, making Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin the first man in space, President Vladimir Putin called for a new space development strategy in the next decade.
But in previously uncontrolled remarks aired on state-run broadcaster Rossia 1 on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov has announced plans to ‘inform honestly’ [foreign partners] of our withdrawal from the ISS from 2025. ”
“We need a technical inspection at the station to avoid any risks in the emergency,” Borisov’s office said. tell the state-run TASS news agency.
“We will make a decision based on the results and honestly notify our partners,” he added.
According to the Russian space agency Roscosmos, it plans to form its own outpost after international agreements on the use of ISS expire in 2024, according to Interfax.
‘We have 2024 as an agreed time limit with our partners on the work of the ISS. After that, decisions will be made based on the technical condition of the station’s modules, which have mostly weakened their lifespan, as well as our plans to deploy a next generation national railway station, ”said Roscosmos.
Referring to an unnamed industry source, Interfax report that Russia’s new space station would cost $ 6 billion.
The new plans, which according to Interfax have not yet been approved, will follow years of corruption scandals and other setbacks in the Russian space program.
Russia had earlier refused to participate in the ‘too US-centered’ lunar orbit station called the Gateway and announced plans to launch a joint lunar space station with China.