Russia signals space station pullout; Nasa says it鈥檚 not official yet

By: 2 years ago

The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by Expedition 56 crew members from a Soyuz spacecraft after undocking, October 4, 2018. NASA/Roscosmos/Handout via REUTERS/File Photo

WASHINGTON 鈥� Russia鈥檚 new space chief announced on Tuesday his country plans to withdraw from the International Space Station after 2024, but senior Nasa officials said Moscow has not formally conveyed an intent to end its two-decade-old orbital partnership with the United States.

While heightened tensions between Moscow and Washington over Russia鈥檚 invasion of Ukraine have raised months of doubt about future American-Russian space cooperation, the announcement by Yuri Borisov, the newly appointed director-general of Russia鈥檚 space agency Roscosmos, came as a surprise.

The two former Cold War adversaries signed a crew exchange agreement less than two weeks ago allowing U.S. astronauts and Russian cosmonauts to share flights on each other鈥檚 spacecraft to and from International Space Station (ISS) in the future. Read full story

Nasa Administrator Bill Nelson issued a statement reiterating the U.S. commitment to keeping the ISS in operation through 2030, adding the space agency 鈥渋s coordinating with our partners.鈥�

鈥淣asa has not been made aware of decisions from any of our partners, though we are continuing to build future capabilities to assure our major presence in low-Earth orbit,鈥� he said.

Launched in 1998, the ISS has been continuously occupied since November 2000 under an U.S.-Russian-led partnership that also includes Canada, Japan and 11 European countries.

鈥淥f course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision about withdrawing from the station after 2024 has been made,鈥� Borisov told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday.

Robyn Gatens, Nasa鈥檚 ISS director, said her Russian counterparts have not communicated any such intent as required by the intergovernmental agreement on the orbiting research platform.

鈥淣othing official yet,鈥� Gatens said in an interview at an ISS conference in Washington. 鈥淲e haven鈥檛 gotten anything official.鈥�

White House spokesperson Karine Jean-Peters likewise said Moscow 鈥渉as not formally notified the United States of their intention to withdraw from the ISS.鈥�

鈥淲e鈥檙e exploring options to mitigate the potential impacts on the ISS beyond 2024 if Russia does withdraw,鈥� she added in a briefing for reporters.

Strained space relations

The space station was born in part from a foreign policy initiative to improve American-Russian relations following the collapse of the Soviet Union and the Cold War hostility that spurred the original U.S.-Soviet space race.

The ISS arrangement, which has endured numerous strains over the years, has stood as one of the last links of civil cooperation as Russia鈥檚 Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine sent relations between Washington and Moscow to a new post-Cold War low.

Nasa and Roscosmos had been in talks to extend Russia鈥檚 ISS participation to 2030. The White House this year approved Nasa鈥檚 plans to continue running the ISS until then.

Nasa officials had previously said bilateral cooperation aboard the space station remained intact.

Borisov鈥檚 remarks on Tuesday followed a pattern similar to those of his predecessor, Dmitry Rogozin, who during his tenure would occasionally signal an intent to withdraw from the ISS 鈥� in contrast with official talks between Nasa and Roscosmos.

Asked for clarification on Russia鈥檚 space station plans, a Roscosmos spokeswoman referred Reuters to Borisov鈥檚 remarks without saying whether it represented the agency鈥檚 official position.

The U.S. and Russian segments of the ISS, spanning the size of a football field and orbiting some 250 miles (400 km) above Earth, were deliberately built to be intertwined and technically interdependent.

For example, while U.S. gyroscopes provide day-to-day control over ISS orientation in space and U.S. solar arrays augment power supplies to the Russian module, the Russian unit provides the propulsion used to keep the station in orbit.

鈥淵ou can鈥檛 have an amicable divorce,鈥� Garrett Reisman, a retired Nasa astronaut and current astronautical engineering professor at the University of Southern California, told Reuters in an interview. 鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of stuck together.鈥�

Former Russian space chief Rogozin had previously said that Russia could not agree to extend its ISS role beyond 2024 unless the United States lifts sanctions on two Russian companies blacklisted for suspected military ties. Putin removed Rogozin as space chief on July 15, replacing him with Borisov, a former deputy prime minister and deputy defense minister.

Nasa, Russian space agency sign deal to share space station flights.

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Strained space relations