Russia will use the remaining time on the ISS to demonstrate that it is ready to proceed with its own orbital station, the Roscosmos chief says.
Russia has decided when it will pull out of the International Space Station ISS and will give a year's notice to its partners, Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Saturday.
In an interview with the Rossiya 24-TV channel, the head of the space agency said that although a timeframe has been set, the authorities are not obliged to speak about it publicly. Rogozin said that Western sanctions imposed over Russia's military offensive on Ukraine are preventing Roscosmos from proceeding with business as usual when it comes to joint work with the US and other Western countries on the ISS. He said that if he could, he would already have cased cooperation.
In the interview he noted that Russia's activities on the ISS are decided by the government and the president, and that the agency is currently allowed to continue operations on the ISS through 2024.
He said that in accordance with our obligations, we will warn our partners a year in advance about the end of work on the ISS.
Rogozin said Russia is ready to deploy the Russian Orbital Service Station ROSS during its remaining time on the ISS. The ROSS will be multifunctional and that development plans are already underway.
The deployment of the station will begin when it is presented, and we will begin to build this smart hardware and prepare for its launch into space, Rogozin said.
The Roscosmos chief predicted that the ISS would fall apart by the time if huge amounts of money are invested in its repair, but that in the current geopolitical environment, work on the ISS is no longer effective for Russia.
In mid-March Rogozin said Russia could be forced to make ROSS militarily applicable because of the hostile geopolitical situation. According to Rogozin, it will mean that there will be no one on ROSS besides the Russian cosmonauts who will service the target equipment installed at the station. Since Russia launched its military offensive in Ukraine in late February, many countries have imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow, targeting its banks, finances and the import of sensitive technology.