The European Space Agency (ESA) hopes to extend the work of the ISS. This was announced on August 30 by the head of the agency, Josef Aschbacher, on the sidelines of the 36th Space Symposium.
According to the ESA director, the decision on the extension of the ISS operation will be made by NASA in the near future.
"From the point of view of Europe, we would welcome the extension, since we consider the ISS to be a very important research laboratory, "he said in an interview with RIA Novosti.
In the case of ESA, the financing of the ISS project will be discussed by all agency participants.
Currently, the participating countries of the ISS project have agreements on the operation of the station until 2024 inclusive. The parties are discussing the issue of extending its work until 2028-2030.
Earlier in the day, it became known that the Director General of the state corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, intends to present a report to Russian President Vladimir Putin on the prospects for creating a Russian national orbital station. On July 31, during a meeting of the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council, the Council of Chief Designers concluded that due to the aging of a significant part of the ISS equipment, the further operation of the Russian segment of the station after 2024 creates additional risks.
On August 24, Rogozin said that the issue of Russia's continued participation in the ISS project will be resolved in the coming months. The Russian Federation plans to withdraw from the ISS project from 2025 and create its own national orbital station.
As Rogozin noted, it will become the prototype of modules that will go to other planets in decades. Earlier, he also clarified that the creation of a new Russian orbital station will cost less than "tens of billions of rubles".