Russia should re-examine the terms of participation in the ISS – space industry official

MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russia should consider reviewing the terms of its participation in the International Space Station, a Russian space industry executive said Thursday, as it wants to focus on forming its own orbiting outpost after 2024.

The Russian space agency, Roscosmos, has said it will remain part of the ISS until 2024 and is open to extend its participation beyond that date.

“We need to reconsider the terms of further participation in the (ISS) program and focus on implementing orbital station programs,” said Vladimir Solovyov, deputy head of Rocket and Space Corporation Energy, according to Internet portal Scientific Russia.

The state-owned company oversees the Russian segment of the ISS, launched in 1989 by Russian and US state space agencies.

Solovyov, who was speaking at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences focused on space, did not say whether Russia should leave the ISS before 2024.

He said a lot of equipment on the ISS was starting to age and needed to be replaced. He said there would be an “avalanche” of broken equipment there after 2025.

The ISS is used for space and Earth exploration by 14 countries, including Japan, Canada and members of the European Space Agency. International agreements on its use are valid until 2024.