Russia will withdraw from the ISS space station after 2024. The country will be collaborating with the United States and astronauts from other countries aboard the station for years to come, but what happens next?
By: Rutger OttoRussia wants to end its involvement with the ISS after 2024, top officials of the space agency Roscosmos said recently. When exactly that will happen remains unclear. It may well take years.
For example, the Russians have told the American NASA that they want to stay on board until the Russian space station ROSS is in use. The country has been working on the station for years, but in practice the project has not yet really got off the ground. Russian flight controller Vladimir Solovyov recently said he expects the space station to be operational in 2028.
But until then, Russia can’t just stop manned flights and space operations, Solovyov said: “We would then fall behind that would be very difficult to catch up.”
Collaboration matters on the ISS
Russia is a major contributor to the ISS. A large part of the modules and laboratories is in the hands of Russia. But the Russian part does not work independently of the rest. For example, astronauts from different countries come together and work together on experiments.
At the core, too, Russia is cooperating with the US. The Americans, for example, supply electricity with their solar panels. The Russians, in turn, ensure with the help of a linked freighter that the ISS always gets a push, so that it stays in the correct orbit around the Earth. In addition, astronauts and cosmonauts regularly hitch a ride with each other to and from the space station.
Should Russia disappear, then solutions must be found for essential parts. Some of them are already there: for example, astronauts can be transported with rockets and capsules from SpaceX. But other Russian contributions are more difficult to replace.
Besides the US and Russia, many more countries are involved in the ISS. Think of Japan, Canada and Brazil, but also many European countries, including the Netherlands, Germany and Sweden.
On board it is not about politics and religion. “If you talk about that, you get splits,” astronaut André Kuipers told NU.nl earlier this year. However, since the war in Ukraine, partnerships, especially between the US and Russia, have been under pressure.
In recent months, following US sanctions, Russia has threatened not only to leave earlier, but also to sabotage the station. “If you block cooperation with us, who will save the ISS from uncontrolled orbit and crash into the United States or Europe?” ex-Head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin threatened.
The final stage of the ISS
Still, the US and Russia made agreements behind the scenes to extend their cooperation in space. NASA also expressed its intention to keep the ISS in the air until 2030. After that, the station is likely to drop in a controlled manner at Point Nemo, the point in the ocean furthest from land.
In any case, the station has been around for much longer than originally envisioned. The ISS was launched in 1998 and was supposed to last for 15 years. Since November 2000, astronauts have been constantly on board for experiments. New parts are also added from time to time.
Technically, it would even be possible to continue with the ISS after 2030, says NASA. But by then it should be clear whether that is true. And if Russia withdraws, it will have to be seen whether the station can continue to exist without support from the country.