Russia will pull out of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, its space chief said on Tuesday, in a move that will end a symbolic two-decade orbital partnership between Moscow and the west.
Yuri Borisov, the country’s newly appointed space chief, said during a meeting with Vladimir Putin that Russia would fulfil its obligations to its partners on the ISS before leaving the project.
“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said, to which Putin responded: “Good.”
Borisov’s statement reaffirmed previous declarations made by Dmitry Rogozin about Moscow’s intention to leave the station after 2024. The outspoken Rogozin had previously threatened to end the partnership unless the US, EU and Canada lifted their sanctions against enterprises involved in the Russian space industry.
