NASA recently made public its optimism regarding the maintenance of its agreement with Russia on the International Space Station (ISS) until 2030. However, the director of the Russian space agency (Roscosmos), Dmitry RogozinIt didn’t take long for him to deny his words. At the time, he pointed out that, due to the sanctions imposed on Russia by the ukrainian war, they would not remain working with their international partners longer than necessary. Now, a month after that first statement, Rogozin has returned to the fray to announce that, although they have not yet sent the notice to NASAthe decision is already made: they leave the International Space Station.
Needless to say, they cannot leave overnight. Rogozin himself knows this. For now his agreement is signed until 2024at most they could withdraw from the extension requested by NASA to 2030. Even if they withdraw, they would have to notify one year in advance. And that is precisely what they will do, according to the director of Roscosmos. They will only remain on the International Space Station if sanctions on Russia are lifted. And, since it does not seem that this is going to happen in the short term, they think that there is no more to talk about.
Speaking to the Russian news outlet TASS, has indicated that they will comply with all the protocols and will send the notice to their partners well in advance. They would not stay until 2030 in any way. Furthermore, they do not even trust that this is feasible if a huge investment.
Russia’s plans for the International Space Station
There are currently three Russian cosmonauts on the International Space Station: Sergey Korsakov, Oleg Artemyev and Denis Matveev. As explained from IFLScienceRussia’s wish is that they do not work on joint experiments with their international partners and that they conduct them individually in the Russian module.
Even so, the truth is that for now, despite all the more than palpable tensions, both parties have complied so that the work on the ISS is not damaged. In fact, recently two Russian cosmonauts and a NASA astronaut returned to Earth together in a maneuver resulting from the collaboration between both space agencies.
Perhaps for this reason, NASA trusted that Russia would continue in the facilities until 2030. Despite the fact that Roscosmos has cut off its supply of rocket motors and has withdrawn its personnel from the Kourou European Space Station, in French Guiana. Also despite the fact that they are putting more and more obstacles to the access of its Soyuz rockets to launch new international missions into space.
For now we will have to wait. Russia has made it clear that they are not obliged to make their deliberations public and that, therefore, the brief announcement that they have made is more than enough. The only ones who need to know the details are your international partners and they will be informed in due time. But the decision has already been made. The only place where it seemed that the Ukraine War would not reach is already fully suffering its consequences. Not even in space do they get rid of the problems caused by the tension of human beings.