Russia explained why it will be removed from the International Space Station and advanced that politics has no place in space. Yuri Borisov, director of the Roscosmos, said in an interview that the space agency will start the withdrawal in 2024, however, there is no definite date to completely abandon the space complex. Borisov, who recently replaced the controversial Dimitri Rogozin, assured that it is a reason for survival, rather than political conflict.
The head of Roscosmos mentioned that the main modules of the International Space Station exceeded their useful life for which they were designed. This poses a security risk to Russian cosmonauts and the astronauts from other countries who are there. The priority now is guarantee survival in the face of a possible catastrophe.
Although it is impossible to predict when a disaster will occur, Borisov anticipates that the process would snowball, threatening the lives of the crew. The director of the Russian space agency says that they have listened to the opinion of specialists and believe that this process would begin to take shape in 2024.
The exact date of departure of Russia from the International Space Station is not defined and will depend on the condition of the orbital complex. “We will start the exit process after 2024. Everything depends, among other things, on the work capacity of the ISS, either in mid-2024 or in 2025,” said the head of Roscosmos.
Russia has no political reason to leave the International Space Station
Borisov had advanced a few days ago that the reasons were not political and endorsed it again. “Now on to the political aspects: there are none. I think there should be none,” he said. “I believe that these projects must be out of politics both today and in the future“, he declared. The head of Roscosmos mentioned that the International Space Station project has enriched world science in the sphere of knowledge of the Earth and the Universe.
The Russian official promised to fulfill all his obligations towards his partners, however, the decision to leave the International Space Station is made. Borisov also stated that Roscosmos will gradually migrate towards providing commercial services.
Finally, the Roscomos announced a reorganization in the process of building satellites. Yuri Borisov said that they must rebuild the operation in a way that allows them to produce satellites in appropriate quantity and quality. The official admitted that Russia has been overtaken by the United States, Europe and China in this field, so they have “a debt to pay” with the economy of their country.
This will not be easy if we consider that Russia is facing a host of sanctions stemming from the invasion of Ukraine. Given this, the agency will have to rethink processes such as research, development, production and testing. The Roscosmos too has plans to put an autonomous station into orbit before leaving the ISS entirely. The latter seems complex, although the agency is optimistic and believes that it will be achieved before the end of the decade.