Since then, the ISS has brought together astronauts from around the world to conduct research that could, eventually, help bring humans even further into outer space. Russia and the US first started building the space station in the late 1990s, and the partnership was considered a major feat of international collaboration, especially in the wake of the Cold War and the decades-long space race. Politics isn’t supposed to influence the ISS. Politics isn’t supposed to influence the ISS The ISS’s last legs Still, Russia’s decision is concerning, and serves as a stark warning that the future of space may not be as collaborative - or international -as it once was.
But the ISS was never supposed to be around forever, and the US is already funding several different commercial space station concepts that should, if all goes according to plan, replace the ISS by the end of the decade. The ISS isn’t facing an immediate crisis, and Borisov said that Russia will, for the time being, honor its current obligations to the station. “NASA has not been made aware of decisions from any of the partners, though we are continuing to build future capabilities to assure our major presence in low-Earth orbit.” “NASA is committed to the safe operation of the International Space Station through 2030, and is coordinating with our partners,” NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said in a statement. Without Russia’s help, that machinery would, presumably, need to be handed over to NASA, or replaced. Right now, for instance, Russia controls the space station’s propulsion control systems, which provide regular boosts that keep the ISS upright and prevent the station from falling out of orbit. The ISS was originally designed so that Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, and NASA each control critical aspects of the space station’s operations. That isn’t necessarily impossible, but it will be difficult.
INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION ISS ASTRONAUTS HOW TO
The United States must now figure out how to run the station without its longtime partner’s help.
Russia had not formally agreed to support the station past the 2024 date, but the Biden administration had planned to support the ISS’s operations until at least 2030. Russian media reported the announcement after Yuri Borisov, the new head of Russia’s space agency, discussed the decision with President Vladimir Putin during a meeting on Tuesday. Still, the decision is a major blow to international collaboration in space. The Russian space program has been flirting with leaving the partnership for years. The move isn’t necessarily surprising, given how the ongoing war in Ukraine is shifting geopolitics. Russia has announced that it will leave the International Space Station after 2024 and launch its own, new space station soon afterward.