For more than two decades, the International Space Station (ISS) has served as a joint research vessel for astronauts around the world. Scientific experiments on the permanently manned spacecraft are considered an integral part of future exploration and have even laid the foundation for breakthroughs here on Earth. More than a research lab, the ISS program has been hailed as a post-Cold War diplomatic triumph for partners Russia and the US, who pilot the spacecraft alongside Canada, Europe and Japan.
But now, geopolitics threatens to jeopardize that work. Russia is considering launching its own orbital space station in 2025, as it debates withdrawal from the ISS program to go it alone, reports the AFPThe country’s space agency has reportedly started work on the station’s first core module, according to a statement shared on Telegram by Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin. Moscow says its deliberations are based on the age of the ISS, but it’s hard to ignore the impact of recent events on the ground.
“When we make a decision, we will start negotiations with our partners on forms and terms of collaboration beyond 2024,” Roscosmos said. AFP in a statement.
Russia lost control of access to the ISS last year after SpaceX conducted its first operational mission to the NASA orbit laboratory. Vladimir Putin has also warned that the US decision to launch a space force suggests that the White House views space as a “military theater and has plans to conduct operations there.” Meanwhile, the Biden government’s criticisms of Russia’s treatment of imprisoned opposition leader Alexei Navalny – and growing fears of a military conflict in Ukraine – have further severed relations between the two sides.
Russia also has a history of operating space laboratories. It previously built the Mir, a modular space station that has been in orbit for 15 years and is reportedly working with China on a planned research station on the moon.
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