Moscow. February 5. INTERFAX - The orbit of the International Space Station (ISS) will be lowered at the request of NASA, the Russian state corporation Roscosmos announced on Saturday.
"S.Korolev Rocket and Space Corporation Energia, at the request of colleagues from NASA, will reduce the average height of the orbit of the International Space Station by several kilometers and in the coming years will constantly maintain the flight of the station at this altitude," Roscosmos said in a statement.
On February 1, NASA announced plans to flood the ISS in January 2031.
"According to the latest budget estimate, under which it is possible to extend the operation of the ISS until 2030, the station should be de-orbited in January 2031, it also includes logistics costs," NASA's plan for the transition from ISS operation to the use of commercial stations in low Earth orbit said.
The date of completion of the ISS operation and the flooding of the station will be determined by the governments of the participating countries of the project, the press service of the rocket and space corporation Energia told Interfax on February 3.
"At the same time, the question of the terms of operation of the station and, accordingly, the timing of its flooding is determined at the governmental level of the partner countries under the International Space Station program, and not solely by one of the parties," the press service said, commenting on reports about NASA's plans to flood the station in January 2031.
The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, stated that the station is a single engineering organism, so the decision on its flooding should be taken jointly by all the partner countries of the ISS.
In October 2020, the flight director of the Russian segment of the ISS, Vladimir Solovyov, said that Russian experts predict an "avalanche-like failure of numerous elements on board the ISS" after 2025.
