Russia has stated its intention to leave the International Space Station cooperation in 2024, according to the Russian official news agency TASS. During a meeting on Tuesday, Yuri Borisov, the new director of Russia’s governmental space company Roscosmos, allegedly informed President Vladimir Putin of the news.
The move seems to confirm remarks made by Borisov’s recent predecessor, Dmitry Rogozin, who publicly addressed the idea of Russia exiting the ISS accord amid rising tensions between Russia and the US following the former’s invasion of Ukraine. Those remarks were rather doubtful, however, since Rogozin was known for making absurd statements and threats about how Roscosmos would respond against US sanctions placed on Russia. Furthermore, NASA has sought to minimize Russia’s exit, stating that Roscosmos was still working on extending its collaboration with NASA on the ISS until 2030 – the current period through which the US space agency aims to keep the space station operational.
It is still unclear how this decision was relayed to the United States. NASA did not respond immediately to The Verge’s request for comment, but senior NASA officials at the International Space Station Research and Development Conference (ISSRDC) in Washington, DC, on Tuesday morning told reporters that the decision had not been formally communicated to the space agency and that the plan is to keep the ISS operational until 2030. During the conference, NASA astronaut Kjell Lindgren said that they had just learned of the tragedy this morning from news sources.
