Science & Technology

Russia confirms plans to quit International Space Station after 2024

Moscow, Jul 26 (EFE).- Russia will withdraw from the International Space Station project after 2024 and focus on creating its own orbital outpost, the new head of the country’s space agency said Tuesday.

Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov confirmed the plans to quit the five-nation space program in a meeting with Russian president Vladimir Putin.

“We will fulfill our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave the ISS after 2024 has already been made,” he said.

Borisov replaced Dmitry Rogozin as the head of Russia’s state space agency this year.

Moscow authorities have previously announced plans to quit the ISS when the homegrown orbital program is launched, a program scheduled for 2025.

Rogozin, the former Roscosmos chief, said in June that negotiations over Russia’s continuation in the ISS program would only be possible if US sanctions on Russia’s space program over Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine were lifted.

Roscosmos and Energia, a major producer of Russian spacecraft and launch vehicles, signed an agreement for the design of a future Russian orbital station in May.

The project is set to cost $38.9 million, according to the government.

The ISS program currently counts on the collaboration of Nasa, Roscosmos, Japan’s Jaxa, the Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency. EFE

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