Russia Settles on ISS Participation to 2024, and Then, a Russian Space Station

After months of internal discussions and wrangling over the future of Russia’s manned space program, Roscosmos announced, yesterday, after a meeting of its science and technical council, that Russia will continue use of the International Space Station (ISS) until 2024, as the U.S. has proposed. There have been contradictory pronouncements made on this issue since last summer, largely in response to the Ukraine sanctions, and then, more recently, due to the need for budget “adjustments” resulting from the decline in the value of the ruble.

The ISS cannot function without Russian participation. Even though the U.S. will supposedly have commercial crew transport to the station operational in 2017, NASA will continue to use Russia’s Soyuz for its astronauts, as a critically redundant capability, and as a crew rescue vehicle, parked at the station in case of emergency. In addition, although American commercial vehicles are already delivering cargo to the station, only Russia’s Progress can reboost the station when its orbit deteriorates. Up until yesterday, only NASA had approved the extension of the ISS past 2020. Neither the European, Japanese, nor Canadian partners have approved it.

Russia still has three modules waiting to be launched to the ISS, that are years behind schedule. According to the plan just announced, the modules will be launched to, and be used on, the ISS, and then, before the station is deorbited in 2024, these three newest modules will separate to form the core of a Russian space station. The modules awaiting launch are a multi-purpose science lab, a docking module, and an energy-producing solar panel module. The docking module is key, to enable more components to be be added later on.

Yuri Koptev, former head of Roscosmos, and head of the council, said that in March another meeting will evaluate proposals for a heavy-lift rocket and deep space exploration. The new plan reiterates the proposal for a manned lunar landing in 2030.