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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
World
Rachel Hagan

Russia pulls out of International Space Station project and vows to build its own

Vladimir Putin has withdrawn Russia from the International Space Station (ISS) project and instead the country will build its own.

The Kremlin will withdraw after 2024 once all of its obligations to partners have been fulfilled.

This was announced on Tuesday at a meeting with Russian President Putin and the Director General of Roscosmos Yuri Borisov.

By 2024, the Russian Federation will then begin to form its new space agency, the Russian orbital station.

"The industry is in a difficult situation, and I see my main task, together with my colleagues, is not to drop, but to raise the bar and, first of all, provide the Russian economy with the necessary space services," Borisov said.

The International Space Station (ISS) is a partnership between Russia and the US among other countries (Getty Images/Science Photo Library RF)

Co-operation on the ISS was halted in Russia back in April, in response to the sanctions imposed on the country following its invasion of Ukraine.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the country's Roscosmos space agency, said this was unacceptable and he resigned from working with American partners NASA and the European Space Agency.

He said sanctions would kill the Russian economy, "plunge people into despair and hunger and bring our country to its knees."

He said if sanctions were lifted he would consider working with the partners again.

The head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency, Dmitry Rogozin (Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

In a statement earlier in July, NASA said it “strongly rebukes” Russia for political activity on the space station related to its ongoing war in Ukraine.

The statement appears to be in response to images released by Roscosmos of three Russian cosmonauts on the station holding flags associated with the so-called Luhansk People’s Republic and Donetsk People’s Republic.

They said the capture of the region was “a liberation day to celebrate both on Earth and in space.”

The two regions are regions of eastern Ukraine, recognised by western nations as part of Ukraine but occupied by Russian forces. Along with Syria, Russia claims it is their land.

Roscosmos posted on its Telegram social media network and congratulated the Luhansk People’s Republic government on the capture of the city.

It is unclear whether this disagreement promoted Russia's withdrawal or if it was down to other external pressures.

In 2021, Russia blew up a dead satellite that scattered debris and threatened ISS. Bill Nelson, the NASA administrator, forcefully condemned the Russian military, calling it “reckless and dangerous.”

Despite this, he said the war did not throw the partnership into question.

Dmitry Rogozin said that due to "financial restrictions" it was difficult to simultaneously implement the ISS project and build a new station.

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