The Head of Roscosmos Makes Important Announcement

Russia will withdraw from the ISS project after 2024, and before that, the deployment of a national orbital station will commence, announced Yuri Borisov, the head of Roscosmos, as reported by Interfax.

“You know we are working on the International Space Station within the framework of international cooperation. Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave this station has been made after 2024,” Borisov said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“I believe that before that, we will start forming a Russian orbital station,” he added.

According to him, the creation of the Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) will become a primary priority for Roscosmos in the field of crewed space flight.

“We will continue the piloted program according to the approved plans. The main priorities will be focused on the creation of the Russian orbital station,” Borisov stated.

Borisov also noted that the space sector is in a complex situation. “I see that my main task, together with my partners, is not to lower the bar, but to raise it and, first of all, to provide the space services necessary for the Russian economy. This also includes navigation, communication, data transmission, meteorological, geodetic information, etc.,” he said.

For his part, NASA’s space station director, Robin Gates, told Reuters that his Russian counterparts had not reported any such intentions, as required by the station's intergovernmental agreement. “There has been no official communication. We literally just saw this. We haven’t received anything official,” Gates said to the agency.