US Surprised Over Russia’s Plans to Exit ISS After 2024, Expresses Regret

NASA also plans to retire the ISS after 2030 as it transitions to working with commercial space stations.

By Agence France-Presse | Updated: 27 July 2022 13:33 IST

US Surprised Over Russia’s Plans to Exit ISS After 2024, Expresses Regret

Russia announced that it would exit the International Space Station after 2024

Highlights

NASA itself plans to retire the ISS
ISS is a symbol of post-Cold War unity
She wanted the US-Russia space relationship to end

The United States on Tuesday voiced regret over Russia's announcement that it would exit the International Space Station after 2024 and said it was taken by surprise.

"It's an unfortunate development given the critical scientific work performed at the ISS, the valuable professional collaboration our space agencies have had over the years, and especially in light of our renewed agreement on space-flight cooperation," State Department spokesman Ned Price said.

"I understand that we were taken by surprise by the public statement," he told reporters.

NASA's director of the ISS, Robyn Gatens, earlier said that the US space agency had not "received any official word from the partner as to the news today."

NASA itself plans to retire the ISS - a symbol of post-Cold War unity - after 2030 as it transitions to working with commercial space stations, and Gatens suggested Russia might be thinking about its own transition.

Asked whether she wanted the US-Russia space relationship to end, she replied: "No, absolutely not."

"They have been good partners, as all of our partners are, and we want to continue together, as a partnership, to continue operating space station through the decade."

Gatens was responding to an announcement by newly appointed Roscosmos chief Yury Borisov.

"Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision to leave this station after 2024 has been made," Borisov told Russian President Vladimir Putin.

"I think that by this time we will start putting together a Russian orbital station," Borisov added, calling it the space program's main "priority."

"Good," Putin replied in comments released by the Kremlin.

Until now, space exploration was one of the few areas where cooperation between Russia and the United States and its allies had not been wrecked by tensions over Ukraine and elsewhere.

Why are they still making more Harry Potter? We discuss this on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.