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Decision on space station’s service limit depends on situation regarding Russia — Rogozin

He also said that if Russia decided to withdraw from the ISS project, it would notify its foreign partners about this decision a year in advance
Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin Sergey Bobylev/TASS
Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin
© Sergey Bobylev/TASS

MOSCOW, April 29. /TASS/. Russia will make a decision on the future of the International Space Station (ISS) based on the developments regarding the country, Head of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said in an interview with TASS on Friday.

"We should not hustle now declaring our stance and will carry on with our work within the timeframe set by the government, which is until 2024," Rogozin said. "A decision regarding the ISS future will depend to a great extent on the developing situation both in Russia and around it."

He also said that if Russia decided to withdraw from the ISS project, it would notify its foreign partners about this decision a year in advance.

Rogozin reiterated that a package of proposals on Russia’s cooperation with foreign partners on the ISS project after the year of 2024 was sent to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the country’s government.

"Our proposed decision, which was sent to the country’s authorities, was considered at the Supervisory Board of the Roscosmos state corporation," he said.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov announced in April 2021 that the condition of the International Space Station (ISS) left much to be desired and Russia might focus on creating its own orbital outpost. Russia’s Energia Space Rocket Corporation was assigned the task of making the first basic module for a new Russian orbital station ready in 2025. The new module will be based on a research and power unit that was previously intended for launch to the International Space Station in 2024.

The Roscosmos Scientific and Technical Council recommended that the work on creating the technical project of Russia’s new orbital station be included in the 2025 federal space program. In late February this year, the Roscosmos chief said that it would be hard to simultaneously implement the ISS project and the project of building a new national orbital outpost due to financial constraints. He also said it was necessary to stipulate some "overlapping period" when the ISS and the ROSS would operate simultaneously for some time.