Russian space officials have told their U.S. counterparts that they intend to keep their presence in the International Space Station at least until after the country builds and operates its own orbital facility in 2028, a U.S. space official said in a Reuters report.
This came after Yuri Borisov, newly appointed director-general of the Russian space agency, shocked NASA on Tuesday saying Moscow intended to cease its space station partnership after 2024.
Putin, Russian Space Chief Arrived at Decision to Exit ISS Amid Worsening Tensions With West Over Ukraine Conflict
Borisov, who was appointed by Russian president Vladimir Putin earlier this month in a shake-up of the Russian space agency, said Russia would build the proposed Russian Orbital Station (ROSS) as it disengages from the multilateral endeavour amid worsening tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
At a meeting with Putin, Borisov said Roskosmos would fulfil its obligations to its ISS partners, but at the end of their meeting, they reached a decision to exit the project after 2024.
U.S. State Department spokesperson expressed regret over Russia's move, with spokesperson Nick Price describing it as "an unfortunate development given the critical scientific work performed at the ISS, the valuable professional collaboration our space agencies have had over the years, and especially in light of our renewed agreement on space-flight cooperation."
The announcement was considered a statement of intent by Russia to withdraw from the ISS partnership and to put its personnel and financial resources into developing an independent space station.
'Business As Usual' for Russian, American Teams in ISS
NASA space operations chief Kathy Lueders said that Russian space officials would later tell the U.S. space agency that Russia will remain in the partnership while Rocosmos seeks to have Russia's orbital outpost, named ROSS, operational.
No indication was made that anything has changed, Lueders said, stressing that NASA's ties with Rocosmos remains "business as usual".
The U.S. and Russia had been in partnership to occupy and lead the space station for over two decades together with Japan, Canada, and 11 European countries.
This partnership is one of the final existing pacts between the countries, given that diplomatic ties have soured since Russia invaded Ukraine earklier this year.
An extension for Russia to participate in the ISS beyond 2024 has not been formally made. NASA, Russia and the station's other partners planned to discuss continuing presence on the ISS UNTIL 2030 during a pmeeting on Friday of a panel that manages the space laboratory, Lueders further said in the Reuters report.
Meanwhle, Russia's ISS flight director, Vladimir Solovyov was quoted as saying in the Rocosmos website that Russia should remain on the station until ROSS is up and running.
American and Russian teams in the ISS have constantly collaborated, but are essentially independent.
The ISS - a joint project involving five space agencies - has been in orbit around Earth since 1998 and has been used to conduct thousands of scientific experiments.
It is approved to operate until 2024, but the US wants to extend that for six more years with the agreement of all partners.
