The head of Roscosmos Borisov announced Russia's decision to withdraw from the ISS project after 2024
Russia has decided to abandon the project of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024, said the head of the state corporation "Roscosmos" Yuri Borisov. Nevertheless, all obligations to partners will be fulfilled, he noted.
Russia will leave the ISS after 2024, but will fulfill its obligations to the project partners, Roscosmos CEO Yuri Borisov said. The decision to withdraw the Russian side from the ISS was made a long time ago, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said.
In May, Roscosmos and RSC Energia signed a contract for 2.69 billion rubles for the development of a draft design of the Russian orbital station (ROC "Creation of the space complex of the Russian Orbital Station"), the work should be completed on March 31, 2024.
Official farewell
"Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision and withdrawal from this station after 2024 have been made," Borisov said in a report to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Borisov noted that by this time Roscosmos will begin to form a Russian orbital station.
In turn, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the decision on Russia's withdrawal from the ISS project was made not on July 26, but earlier. He was asked whether Russia's decision not to participate in the ISS project after 2024 was agreed with President Vladimir Putin.
"The decision was made even earlier," Peskov replied.
The United States expected that cooperation on the ISS would continue at least until 2030, but Russia has repeatedly expressed doubts about the possibility of this under sanctions.
National Station project
The first statements about the creation of a National Orbital Station appeared in 2014 against the background of international confrontation and statements by politicians about Russia's possible withdrawal from the ISS project after 2020.
In 2014, Kommersant became aware of the possible deployment of a Russian high-latitude orbital station. It was noted that putting the national space station into orbit is one of the key proposals of the project for the development of manned cosmonautics until 2050. In 2015, it was reported that China could be involved in the National Station project.
In 2020, the general designer of RSC Energia, Vladimir Solovyov, spoke about the damage to a number of elements of the ISS and the need to create a Russian station.
"There are already a number of elements that are seriously affected by damage and are going out of service. Many of them cannot be replaced. After 2025, we predict an avalanche-like failure of numerous elements on board the ISS," Solovyov said at a meeting of the RAS Space Council at the time.
Then the Council decided to recommend Roscosmos and RSC Energia will continue work on the development of the station.
Solovyov presented the appearance of the new Russian station, the project was named ROSS - Russian Orbital Service Station. The station will consist of three to seven modules with a crew of two to four people. It will also be able to work offline to reduce operating costs. It is proposed to start deploying the station in the period after 2024 - the exact dates are not specified.
The design, according to Solovyov, will be similar to the Mir station, which operated from 1986 to 2001. The structure will include at least five modules: basic; target production; material support module (warehouse); platform module (slipway) for assembling, launching, receiving and servicing spacecraft; commercial for accommodating four tourists with two large portholes and access to WiFi.
In January 2021, the former head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said that the new orbital station is likely to be visited, not inhabited, which will reduce operating costs. According to him, the station will solve the tasks of assembling complex flight modules, refueling ships and their repair, checking the operability of new systems and equipment in outer space.
In April of the same year, Rogozin said that the Scientific and Energy Module (NEM), intended for the ISS, would be the first component for ROSS. By the end of June 2021, RSC Energia presented four options for creating a Russian orbital service station based on both ISS modules and newly developed modules in orbits with different inclinations. At the end of August, General Designer Solovyov announced that the company had begun to create a preliminary design of the station.
On March 29, Rogozin said that RSC Energia was tasked with completing the design of ROSS in 2022 and ensuring the readiness of the first module of the station by 2025. On May 26, the Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences for Space and the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos concluded that the ROSS station should be automatic, the participation of the crew will only be required in the delivery and installation of equipment. The station will be able to observe the entire planet.
In May, Roscosmos and RSC Energia signed a contract for 2.69 billion rubles for the development of a draft design of the Russian orbital station (ROC "Creation of the space complex of the Russian Orbital Station"), the work should be completed on March 31, 2024.
The fate of the ISS without Russia
Russia will continue to fulfill its obligations and send astronauts to the ISS. On July 14, Roscosmos and NASA agreed on cross-flights on Russian and American ships. The Russians will make three flights on Crew Dragon ships, the first of which will be Anna Kikina next fall.
The fate of the International Station after 2024 remains unclear due to the wear and tear of individual modules, and the possibility of uncontrolled station de-orbiting has also been repeatedly mentioned, since the latter is corrected by the engines of Russian Progress cargo ships. For the first time, a test correction by an American Cygnus "truck" took place on June 25, but then Energia said that such a maneuver was impossible without Russian engines, which should be turned on to turn the ISS around and return it "to the standby orientation."
In addition, Rogozin has repeatedly said that the ISS could "fall apart" before 2030 if large funds are not invested in its repair.
Mikhail Rodionov
