Russia is Building Its Own Space Station

Russia has announced that it will build its own space station, while the government has already announced that it will withdraw from the International Space Station.

The first module should go into space in 2025. According to the state news agency Sputnik News, this is the Science Power Module, which would initially be installed on the ISS in 2024.

The announcement comes after contradictory statements in Moscow about the space plans. On Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borissov announced that his country would withdraw from the ISS in 2025 to build its own station.

He echoed a communication from the Russian Academy of Sciences referring to worn elements in the ISS. Modules are said to be “near the end of their life”.

Roscosmos nuanced to the French news agency AFP that the decision would not be made until 2024 based on the “technical condition” of the spacemeccano. Borissov said Monday that the ageing of the ISS predicts a “catastrophe”.

“We must not endanger the lives of the cosmonauts.” He added that the future space station would orbit higher than the ISS and could be an intermediate station for flights to the moon.