Moscow. September 29. INTERFAX.RU – Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a possible extension of the service life of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024.
“In accordance with the existing agreements, the ISS flight should be completed in 2024. Despite the possible extension of this period, we must look beyond the horizon of the current decade, take into account new challenges in deep space exploration, as well as national plans for the development of infrastructure and the development of our vast territories. including the Arctic zone, “Putin said at a meeting on space issues.
It was reported that Russia could withdraw from the ISS project from 2025, transferring responsibility for its segment to its partners in the station. At the same time, it was noted that Russia can continue to support its segment with the financial participation of the United States.
An alternative would be the creation of a national orbital station, the first module of which is planned to be launched in 2025 and completed in 2035.
On September 4, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on the air of the Soloviev Live channel that Russia must create its own orbital station without fail, the ISS resource is limited.
According to Rogozin, the ISS “has a normal resource until 2025.”
“Technically, both we and the Americans calculated that the station would not create any big problems for us. Although more and more time cosmonauts and astronauts will spend on maintaining the viability of this station,” Rogozin said.
According to Rogozin, the ISS modules, created in the early 1990s, have overworked their resource.
“We understand that the longer we keep the ISS in orbit, the more money we will have to spend on replacing the equipment that, unfortunately, cannot even be absolutely modern – such is the architecture of the station itself. “, – said then the head of Roskosmos.
“We need a new station,” Rogozin said, noting that Russia has a scientific and technical groundwork for its creation.
In April, an informed source told Interfax that Russia has plans to actively finance a project to create an independent space station until 2030, which could cost up to $ 6 billion.
On August 23, the head of Roscosmos announced that he had sent a report on the creation of a new Russian space station to the government.
According to him, the new station will provide ships sailing along the Northern Sea Route with “all possible space services.”
“This will create for us unique economic opportunities for the development of the Northern Sea Route. I am not talking about other tasks that can not be declared,” said the head of Roscosmos.
In October 2020, Vladimir Soloviev, Flight Director of the ISS Russian Segment, said that the corporation's specialists predict “an avalanche-like failure of numerous elements on board the ISS” after 2025. According to him, due to the increased costs, experts consider it necessary “to reconsider the terms of further participation in the program and focus on the implementation of programs for orbital stations.”
On June 7, in the State Duma, the head of Roscosmos said that Russia's continued participation in the ISS project after 2025 is possible only if sanctions against Russian space enterprises are lifted in the near future.
