The General director of the state corporation recalled that the Russian side has a decision to extend the operation of the station until 2024
ST. PETERSBURG, June 15. /TASS/. The fate of the International Space Station (ISS) remains the subject of fierce debate in Roscosmos. This was stated on Tuesday by the head of the state corporation Dmitry Rogozin at the Global Conference on Space Exploration GLEX-2021.
"I will not hide it, we have a very fierce debate in Roscosmos on this issue, what to do in this situation. At the moment, we have a decision to extend the operation of the station until 2024. Indeed, Senator Nelson (the new head of NASA, Bill Nelson-approx. TASS) was one of those who advocated the extension of the station until 2030. He just came in and became the head of NASA. I think that we will be able to find these solutions with him, " Rogozin said.
According to him, the topic of space will be on the agenda of the meeting of the presidents of Russia and the United States in Switzerland, which will be held on Wednesday, and this is the merit of both sides.
"We would very much like our presidents to agree that we continue this work and that this work will not be prohibited by any sanctions restrictions. We will try to preserve what was created by the American and Soviet, Russian, manned cosmonautics. I think [US President Joe] Biden and I will understand each other and find a solution that will be in favor of our bilateral relations and the global space industry in general," the head of Roscosmos stressed.
The Global Conference on Space Exploration is being held in St. Petersburg from June 14 to 18. It was originally scheduled to take place on June 9-11, 2020, but was postponed to 2021 due to the pandemic. The Forum is held annually in different countries.