The International Space Station ISS is threatened with an imminent end: Russia is questioning participation beyond 2024 - and is already working on its own space station.
Update from Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 12:28 p.m.:
Will the end of the International Space Station (ISS) come faster than expected? After the Russian Vice Prime Minister Yuri Borissow declared on state television on Sunday (April 18, 2021) that Russia could exit the ISS project as early as 2025, the head of the Russian space organization Roskosmos is now a little more precise: “The first basic module for the new space station is already under construction, ”said Dmitri Rogozin on the Telegram messenger service. The module is to be launched into space as early as 2025.
There is currently a contract between various international partners for cooperation on the ISS until 2024. Russia had recently even announced an extension to 2030 - until suddenly there was talk of a possible exit in 2025 on Sunday.
The background is probably also the technical condition of the international space station, which has been orbiting the earth for more than 20 years: "We cannot endanger life," Borissov said on state television.
In the past year, several leaks were discovered on board the ISS that had to be repaired.
The head of the Russian ISS segment expects an "avalanche of defects" on the ISS from 2025.
Surname: |
International Space Station (ISS) |
|---|---|
Track height: |
about 400 kilometers |
Start date: |
November 20, 1998 |
permanently inhabited since: |
November 2, 2000 |
partner |
16 states (5 space agencies) |
The new Russian space station could be brought to a higher orbit than the ISS and used as a stopover for flights to the moon, the Russian Vice President had suggested.
Only recently, Russia and China agreed on a joint lunar station, but Russia has withdrawn from a project with the US space agency Nasa.
The end of the ISS threatens - Russia wants to withdraw soon
First report from Sunday, April 18, 2021, 4:48 p.m .:
The International Space Station (ISS) * has been
orbiting
the earth for more than 20 years and is permanently inhabited by people - now it threatens to end earlier than last expected.
The Russian Vice Prime Minister Yuri Borissow said on state television that Russia could exit the ISS project as early as 2025.
"It is more than fair to warn you (your partner) in good time," said Borissov.
A decision will be made based on the technical condition of the station, said the Russian space agency Roskosmos, according to the state agency Tass.
"Recently there were more frequent reports of technical malfunctions," said Borissov Tass.
In fact, Russia has been struggling with leaks in old Russian ISS modules * for some time.
End of the ISS?
Russia wants to get out of the project in space in 2025
At the beginning of March, the vice-chairman of the Russian space company RKK Energija, Yuri Gidsenko, declared that the ISS should remain in space until at least 2028.
This decision was made at the "highest levels".
Officially, however, there has not yet been a decision.
The latest decision that the Russian exit from the ISS project will probably follow a technical review was already made on April 12, the Russian “Cosmonaut Day” *, at an appointment with Vladimir Putin, said Borissov.
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Nasa, Esa or other partners involved in the space station have not yet commented on the Russian ISS plans. It is currently unclear whether they would continue to operate the ISS without Russian participation - after all, the operation of the space station is extremely expensive, and the Russian “Soyuz” space capsules would be an important means of transport to the ISS. Russia is planning its own space station in the future. Details are not yet known. (Tanja Banner with dpa)
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