Borisov said that the exit from the ISS project could take up to two years
MOSCOW, July 29. /tass/. The main modules of the International Space Station (ISS) have exceeded their life several times. This was announced by the Director General of Roscosmos Yuri Borisov on Friday.
"To date, the resources of the main modules of the ISS have been developed many times. This is the technical side of the issue. The warranty obligations have been exceeded for a long time," Borisov said in an interview with the Rossiya-24 TV channel.
According to the head of Roscosmos, the priority issue is the question of the lives of both Russian and foreign crew members of the station. "There is such a thing as metal aging, many engineers know what it is. Today, the intensity of various kinds of emergency situations, equipment failure, the appearance of microcracks is beginning to increase. This is a natural process at the end of the life cycle of any product," Borisov said.
Threat to the crew
It is impossible to predict exactly when this process will begin to turn into an avalanche and create a real threat to the crew, the head of Roscosmos stressed. "All these forecasts are quite probabilistic in nature. But according to the authoritative opinion of many experts, the probability of such a process is just possible after 2024, which is why I announced this deadline," he added.
He noted that the number of emergencies on the ISS, as well as cases of equipment failure and the appearance of microcracks is beginning to increase.
"Today, the intensity of various kinds of emergency situations, equipment failure, the appearance of microcracks is beginning to increase. This is a natural process at the end of the life cycle of any product," Borisov said.
According to the head of Roscosmos, it is impossible to predict exactly when this process will begin to turn into an avalanche and create a real threat to the crew. "All these forecasts are quite probabilistic in nature. But, according to the authoritative opinion of many experts, the probability of such a process is just possible after 2024, which is why I announced this deadline," he added.
Commercial provision of services
Roscosmos will gradually switch to a commercial basis for providing services, the General director of Roscosmos said.
"This is a verified practice almost all over the world, it is a proven practice, and we will switch to commercial provision of services," Borisov said in an interview with Rossiya-24 TV channel.
According to the head of the state corporation, there is now a great demand for services provided by the rocket and space industry, but in most cases this happens free of charge. "My deep conviction is that when a service producer and a service consumer do not enter into normal commodity-money relations, the main result is not achieved. Both sides in such a situation are not interested in improving services," he explained.
At the same time, users, Borisov stressed, prefer to take information, including from Google. "For the time being. This may, as practice shows, stop at some point," the head of Roscosmos believes.
