Russia to leave International Space Station
Russia has announced that it will be withdrawing as a partner from the International Space Station (ISS) in 2024. It will now build its own station.
Construction on the ISS, a joint project of the space agencies of the US, Russia, Europe, Japan, and Canada, first began in 1998, with the first long-term inhabitants taking up residence in 2000.
However, as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, tensions between the partners have risen, leading to the Russians saying they will pull out of the project.
The current agreement between the partner nations runs up to 2024 but the US wanted to extend this until 2030. However, Russia has indicated that while it will fulfil all its obligations up until 2024 it will not be a partner beyond that.
The BBC quoted a former US astronaut and ISS commander, Dr Leroy Chiao, as saying: ‘I think this is posturing by the Russians. They don’t have the money to build their own station and it would take several years to do it. They’ve got nothing else if they go this route.’
Image by NASA-Imagery from Pixabay
