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Contrary to the announcement made at the end of July, Russia seems to be reviewing its plans for its participation in the International Space Station. After declaring to leave the project in 2024, Roscosmos, the Russian agency, now suggests that it could well extend the lease and that it wishes to improve its relations with its partners, NASA in the first place.
Undermined by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, international space cooperation remains alive. Two missions bear witness to this: on September 21, astronaut Frank Rubio flew to the ISS in the company of two cosmonauts with a Soyuz from Baikonur. On October 5, this time it was the Russian Anna Kikina who took off from Florida.
Three months earlier, these two missions did not seem to go without saying. Dmitri Rogozine, then director of Roscosmos and close to Vladimir Putin, multiplied the controversial statements, even going so far as to threaten to leave on board the ISS an American astronaut who was nevertheless to return to Soyuz. The relations between the Russian agency and NASA had never been so bad.
Until 2028 and maybe beyond
Since then, Dmitri Rogozin has been replaced and the team at the head of Roscosmos is trying to calm things down; confirmation during the press conference following Anna Kikina’s take-off: the deputy director reaffirms his agency’s commitment to its partnership with NASA.
Another example, Russian participation in the ISS was to end after 2024, Roscosmos said this summer. Change of discourse this week, with the publication of a press release in which Roscosmos no longer excludes continuing until 2028, or even longer, depending on the state of the station.
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