Russia is set to quit the International Space Station “after 2024,” Moscow’s space agency chief told Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, AFP reported.
The announcement comes under the backdrop of rising tensions between Moscow and the West over Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine and multiple rounds of sanctions against Russia.
Yuri Borisov, who was appointed Roscosmos chief in July, told Putin, "Of course, we will fulfil all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave this station after 2024 has been made," AFP reported.
He added that by “this time” Russia will start putting together a “Russian orbital station,” calling it their main “priority."
"Good," Putin replied in comments released by the Kremlin, AFP’s report added.
The ISS, which has been in orbit since 1998, has been one of the few areas of corporation between Russia and the United States, and its allies, that remained unaffected by tensions over the situation in Ukraine.
He said that the space industry was in a “difficult situation” and that he will seek to “raise the bar, and first of all, provide the Russian economy with the necessary space services.”
A former deputy prime minister with a military background, Borisov replaces Dimitri Rogozin, a politician known for his eccentric behaviour.
While Roscosmos prides itself on several achievements, the space agency has suffered a series of setbacks such as corruption scandals and the loss of several spacecrafts and satellites.
(With inputs from AFP.)
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