Russia will withdraw from the International Space Station (ISS) project after 2024. This was stated by the head of the state corporation "Roscosmos" Yuri Borisov during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to him, Russia will fulfill all obligations to its partners, but the decision to leave the station after 2024 has already been made. "I think that by this time we will begin to form a Russian orbital station. I believe that the future of Russian manned cosmonautics, first of all, should be based on a balanced and systematic scientific program, so that each flight enriches us with knowledge in the field of space," Borisov added.
The rejection of the ISS has been discussed since 2020
In November 2020, the Rocket and Space Corporation (RSC) Energia, which is the operator of the Russian segment of the ISS, said that some elements of the station were damaged and could not be replaced with new ones. They also noted that after 2025, an avalanche-like failure of the ISS systems will begin, as a result of which further maintenance of the station will become too expensive. As a replacement, it was proposed to create a Russian orbital service station (ROSS), which, in particular, provides for an unmanned mode of operation.
A year later, Borisov, who was in charge of the space direction in the government at that time, announced that Russia would withdraw from the project in 2025. According to him, this decision was made on April 12, 2021 at a meeting with the president of the country. At the same time, the press service of Roscosmos noted that the ISS modules have exhausted their life, and the International Space Station will operate until 2024.
Consequences of Russia's withdrawal from the project for astronauts
There were enough grounds for making a decision on Russia's withdrawal from the International Space Station project. About this in a conversation with Lenta.<url>" said cosmonaut Andrey Borisenko. "I think any decision of this kind is made taking into account all aspects of life around us," he stressed.
is the depreciation of the Russian segment of the International Space Station according to data for 2021
According to Borisenko, Russian cosmonauts, as the domestic program is implemented, will no longer be delivered to the ISS and will work under a different program. "We have prescribed the creation of our own national orbital station," he added.
Creation of ROSS
The former head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, reported that the Russian segment of the ISS is worn out by 80 percent, and it will take as much money to maintain it as it will be necessary to deploy the Russian orbital station.
According to the plans of the state Corporation for 2021, the first ROSS base module will be the Scientific and Energy Module (NEM), which was originally planned to be sent in 2025 for docking with the ISS. It will take about two years to remake it for ROSS, during which its control, power and docking systems will be improved.
At a meeting with Putin, Borisov demonstrated the ROSS sketch. At the first stage of the deployment of the Russian station, a crew of two people is planned, the developer of the station is RSC Energia.
