Russia to quit the International Space Station after 2024

It plans to build an independent station in low-Earth orbit

Russia announced plans to leave the International Space Station after 2024 and build an independent one. Reuters

A Russian Soyuz 2.1a rocket booster at the Baikonur Cosmodrome spaceport, in an area of southern Kazakhstan leased to Russia. Reuters

A Soyuz-2.1a is readied for launch. Nasa has announced that it will resume flights to the International Space Station with Russia.

This is taking place despite Washington's attempts to isolate Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. AFP

Nasa's announcement came hours Dmitry Rogozin was dismissed as head of Russia's Roscosmos space agency. AFP

A vocal backer of Russia's invasion, Mr Rogozin, had said US astronauts should get to the ISS 'on trampolines' rather than Russian rockets. AFP

Earlier this month, Russia's former Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov was appointed as the new director-general of Roscosmos. AP

A Russian rocket to the ISS launched since the invasion bore the inscription Donbas and its nose cone and had the flags of breakaway enclaves painted on it. AP

The Soyuz rocket blasts off from the Baikonur Cosmodrome. The last Nasa astronaut to take a Soyuz to the ISS was Mark Vande Hei in 2021. AP

Nasa said the ISS was always designed to be operated jointly. Reuters

The space agencies of the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada participate. Reuters

US astronaut Mark Vande Hei has a spectacular view of Earth from inside the ISS. AP

Nasa astronaut Mark Vande Hei of Nasa, left, returns from the ISS with cosmonauts Anton Shkaplerov, centre, and Pyotr Dubrov. EPA

Their Russian Soyuz MS-19 space capsule lands south-east of the town of Zhezkazgan in Kazakhstan. AP

A Soyuz MS-21 spacecraft carrying Russian cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev, Denis Matveev and Sergey Korsakov approaches to dock with the ISS. Reuters

A spectacular night-time Soyuz launch. AFP

Russia has decided to quit the International Space Station after 2024 and build one of its own, the chief of the Russian space agency has said.

The announcement was made on Tuesday at a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and the space agency’s new director-general Yury Borisov, according to Russia’s state-owned news agency Tass.

Operational since 2000, the space station was built by multiple partners, including Russia, Nasa, European Space Agency, Japan’s space agency Jaxa and the Canadian space agency.

The floating science laboratory was always immune to political struggles on the ground, but relations between Roscosmos and the West have soured since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year.

Mr Borisov said that they will “fulfil all of their obligations to their partners” and will now focus on building the Russian Orbital Station, or ROSS.

“Of course, we will fulfill all our obligations to our partners, but the decision and leaving this station after 2024 have been made,” he said.

Earlier this month, Russia and Nasa announced that highly-anticipated seat-exchange between the two agencies would go ahead, allowing Russian cosmonauts to fly on SpaceX rockets and American astronauts on the Soyuz.

The Russian segment on the station is a vital part of the structure that helps provide thrust, particularly the Russian cargo ship Progress MS-19, which performs reboosting manoeuvres to keep the ISS in place.

However, the US-owned Cygnus spacecraft on the station does have reboost capabilities and it did manage to successfuly reboost the ISS last month.

Mr Borisov said the space agency will also focus on priortising space services that aid the national economy.

These include navigation, communications, data transmission and meteorological information.

"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," he said.