Dmitri Bakanov, boss of the Russian agency Roscosmos, announced that an agreement was reached with NASA to operate the ISS until 2029, this Thursday, July 31.
The Russian space agency Roscosmos and NASA has agreed to continue to exploit the International Space Station (ISS) until 2028, announced the Russian director after the first face-to-face meeting with its American counterpart since 2018, this Thursday, July 31.
“The dialogue went well. We have agreed to continue to exploit the ISS until 2028. (…) and until 2030, we will work on its orbit outlet,” said Dmitri Bakanov, quoted by the state agency TASS.
According to him, Roscosmos and NASA have also planned to discuss their cooperation when the national orbital stations that succeed the ISS will be deployed, as well as the manner of “exploiting them and for a series of missions in distant space”.
Serious tensions linked to Ukraine
Dmitri Bakanov had arrived in Houston in the United States on Tuesday to meet with the acting administrator of NASA, Sean Duffy, despite the serious tensions due to the conflict in Ukraine.
Space is one of the last areas of cooperation between Russia and the United States, which exploit the ISS together. Russia had announced in April 2023 its intention to continue to use its segment of this orbital laboratory for a few years, where its cosmonauts are permanently, despite its obsolescence.
Moscow aims to build its own orbital station, despite the difficulties of the Russian space sector, for years undermined by chronic under-funding, reverse and corruption scandals. President Vladimir Putin said in October 2023 that the first segment of this new Russian space station was to be orbit in 2027.
A retirement planned in 2024
As part of the sanctions against Russia adopted since 2022, Western countries have ended their partnership with Roscosmos, but the Russian Soyuz vessels remain one of the only ways to transport crews to the ISS and Moscow plays a key role in its maintenance in orbit.
Model of international cooperation bringing together Europe, Japan, the United States and Russia, the ISS began to be assembled in 1998. Its retirement was scheduled for 2024, but NASA estimated that it could operate until 2030.