Russia set to leave International Space Station after 2024 amid tensions with West

NASA and other international partners hope to keep the space station running until 2030, while the Russians have been reluctant to make commitments beyond 2024.

Russia will pull out of the International Space Station after 2024 and focus on building its own orbiting outpost, the country’s new space chief said Tuesday amid high tensions between Moscow and the West over the fighting in Ukraine.

Yuri Borisov, who was appointed this month to lead the state space agency, Roscosmos, said during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia will fulfill its obligations to its partners before it leaves the project.

“The decision to leave the station after 2024 has been made,” Borisov said, adding: “I think that by that time we will start forming a Russian orbiting station.”

Borisov’s statement reaffirmed previous declarations by Russian space officials about Moscow’s intention to leave the space station after 2024 when the current international arrangements for its operation end.

NASA and other international partners hope to keep the space station running until 2030, while the Russians have been reluctant to make commitments beyond 2024.

The space station is jointly run by the space agencies of Russia, the U.S., Europe, Japan and Canada. The first piece was put in orbit in 1998, and the outpost has been continuously inhabited for nearly 22 years. It is used to conduct scientific research in zero gravity and test out equipment for future space journeys.

It typically has a crew of seven, who spend months at a time aboard the station as it orbits about 250 miles from Earth. The complex, which is almost as long as a football field, consists of two main sections, one run by Russia, the other by the U.S. and the other countries.

It was not immediately clear what will have to be done to the Russian side of the complex to continue safely operating the space station once Moscow pulls out.