Russia announces it will leave the International Space Station

Russia has decided to abandon the International Space Station (ISS), but will only reveal when the project will leave a year in advance, Dmitry Rogozin, Director General of the Russian Space Agency Roscosmos, said on Saturday.

“We have prepared our proposals as I said and sent them to the government and the president. The decision has already been taken. We do not have to speak out, I can only say one thing, in accordance with our commitments, we will inform our partners of the end of our work on the International Space Station a year ago,” he told the public television channel” Russia 24 ” .

On March 2, Rogozin said he would propose to the Kremlin various options for leaving the International Space Station after Russia’s orbital platform partners were unwilling to lift sanctions on two Russian civilian companies: TsNIIMash, a mechanical engineering research firm, and the Progress Rocket Space Center.

Russia had given NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA) until March 31 to respond to this request.

The partners’ refusal formed the basis for Russia’s decision to abandon the International Space Station when negotiations were underway to extend the life of the International Orbital Platform until 2030.

The Russian government has given permission to participate in the International Space Station until 2024, with the intention of later launching its own station. Russia considers that the station, which was launched into orbit in 1998 and was supposed to be 15 years old, will have to receive “a huge amount of money” to repair it and prevent it from disintegrating “into pieces” before 2030.

NASA acknowledged that attempts to separate the US segment from the Russian segment “will pose significant logistical and security challenges due to the multiple external and internal links, the need to control spacecraft tilt and altitude, and the interdependence of the program.”

Rogozin believed that it was impossible to control the International Space Station without the intervention of Russia, which is the country responsible for directing the stations and avoiding dangerous collisions, as well as providing fuel and cargo.

Orbital corrections of the international orbital platform and all thrusters are carried out by engines of the Russian part of the Zvezda service unit or by Progress Freighters.