State of Russia’s ISS segment sparks safety concerns

Chief engineer of the Energia rocket and space corporation says most inflight systems have reached end of service.

A Russian space official on Tuesday raised concerns about the deteriorating state of Russia’s segment of the International Space Station (ISS) due to out-of-date hardware, warning it could lead to “irreparable failures”. In recent years, the ISS’s Russian segment has had a string of problems, including air leaks caused by cracks, raising questions about the safety of the rotating crews on board. “Around 80 percent of the inflight systems on Russia’s segment have reached the end of their service period,” Vladimir Solovyov, chief engineer of the Energia rocket and space corporation, told the RIA Novosti news agency.