A Roscosmos official stated on Monday that talks are underway with Moscow on extending Russia Space Agency’s involvement in the ISS (International Space Station) beyond 2024.
Roscosmos has begun “discussing prolonging our involvement in the ISS program with our administration and expect to obtain authorization to continue next year,” as the director of Russia’s manned spaceflight programs Sergei Krikalev told journalists.
Roscosmos president Yuri Borisov declared in the summertime that Russia will quit the ISS “before 2024,” and that it would attempt to create its own space station since relations with Russia and the West had deteriorated due to the crisis in Ukraine.
Russia Space Agency Wants To Extend ISS Participation
There is no defined timetable for when he will implement this proposal.
The construction of a new station, Krikalev said, “will not happen soon, so presumably we will continue to fly till we get the necessary facilities.”
The Russia Space Agency astronaut, two American astronauts, and a Japanese astronaut on the SpaceX rocket set to launch on Wednesday to the International Space Station were the subjects of his English-language comments during a NASA news conference.
Partners in the International Space Station (including Europe, the United States, Canada, Russia, and Japan) have only committed to keeping it running through 2024 at this time, while American officials have said they wish to keep it going until 2030 if possible.
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February, relations between the United States and Russia have been at an all-time low, with just a handful of areas of collaboration managing to weather the storm.
