Russia and NASA have agreed to extend their crossover flights to the International Space Station (ISS) until 2025, the Russian space agency (Roscosmos) announced on Thursday.
“In order to maintain the reliability of the operation of the ISS in general” and to ensure the presence of at least one representative of Roscosmos and NASA on their respective segments of the station, “an agreement was reached with the American partners in 2023″ crossover flights extend until 2025,” she said in a press release.
To this end, according to the same source, two addenda to the agreement between Russia and NASA on flights to the ISS were signed in July and December 2023.
Russia announced in July 2022 its intention to withdraw from the ISS, where its cosmonauts are permanently stationed and in which it plays a key role, “after 2024.” The creation of a new Russian orbital station is therefore presented as a priority by Roscosmos.
In October, Russian President Vladimir Putin said the first segment of this new Russian space station would be launched into orbit in 2027, pledging to continue the conquest of space despite recent setbacks.
The Russian space sector, historically the country’s pride, has suffered for years from funding problems, corruption scandals and failures such as the loss of the Luna-25 lunar probe in August.
The ISS is a model of international cooperation involving Europe, Japan, the United States and Russia. Construction of the ISS began in 1998. It was scheduled to be decommissioned in 2024, but NASA estimated that it could be operational by 2030.