Russia to Remain at International Space Station for Maximum Possible Term: Roscosmos Head
Dawn on board ISS
MOSCOW (Sputnik) – Russia will remain at the International Space Station (ISS) for as long as possible, Yury Borisov, the head of Russia’s state space corporation Roscosmos, said on Wednesday. “Today we have official permission to work on the ISS until 2024 inclusive. And we have already applied for the extension until 2028. Of course, we will maintain our presence for as long as possible, but no one knows how the station will behave in the future,” Borisov told the Rossiya 24 broadcaster. The corporation’s head noted that emergency situations, such as a recent leak in the cooling system of Russia’s Soyuz MS-22 spacecraft, can happen at any time and no one is immune from it. “The most important thing we want to achieve is not to interrupt our manned program so as not to lose those competencies that have been developed in the Soviet Union for decades and in the Russian period of history as well,” Borisov added. In July, Borisov said that Russia would fulfill all its obligations to international partners within the framework of cooperation on the ISS and then would leave the station after 2024. According to the Roscosmos head, the ISS is a major international program that has contributed to the exploration of near-Earth space, but its life cycle will end someday. Following the announcement of Russia’s future withdrawal from the ISS program, space industry company Energia said that construction of a new space station, the Russian Orbital Service Station, operated entirely by Roscosmos will be launched in 2028.
