Agencies-Gaza post
Russia to leave ISS after 2024
Russia decided to depart the International Space Station after 2024, according to the new head of Moscow’s space agency, Russian President Vladimir Putin, said on Tuesday.
The statement comes under tension between the Kremlin and the West over Moscow’s military intervention in Ukraine and outstanding sanctions crackdowns on Russia.
Russia and the United States have worked side by side on the International Space Station in orbit since 1998.
Roscosmos President Yuri Borisov told Putin in statements issued by the Kremlin, “Of course, we will fulfil all our commitments to our partners, but the decision was taken to leave this station after 2024.”
“I think by then, we will start preparing a Russian orbital station,” he added, describing it as the space programme’s priority.
Putin replied that this was “good”, Borissov added that the space sector was in a difficult situation, noting that it would seek to lift the roof and, above all, give space services for Russia’s economy.
The sending of the first man to space in 1961 and the launch of the first satellite four years earlier were considered among the most important achievements of the Soviet space programme and remained an important source of national pride in Russia.
