Russia Space Agency Seeking to Extend ISS Participation Past 2024

Space experts said Russia's departure from the International Space Station would seriously affect the country's space sector Handout NASA/AFP/File
Space experts said Russia's departure from the International Space Station would seriously affect the country's space sector Handout NASA/AFP/File
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Russia Space Agency Seeking to Extend ISS Participation Past 2024

Space experts said Russia's departure from the International Space Station would seriously affect the country's space sector Handout NASA/AFP/File
Space experts said Russia's departure from the International Space Station would seriously affect the country's space sector Handout NASA/AFP/File

Russia's space agency is discussing with Moscow a continuation of its participation in the International Space Station past 2024, a Roscosmos official said Monday.

Sergei Krikalev, head of Russia's human space flight programs, told reporters that Roscosmos had started "to discuss extending our participation in ISS program with our government and hope to have permission to continue next year."

With ties between Russia and the West rupturing over the war in Ukraine, Roscosmos chief Yuri Borissov had announced over the summer that Russia would leave the ISS "after 2024", and would seek to build its own space station.

He has not set a firm date for that plan, said AFP.

Krikalev admitted that building a new station would not happen quickly, "so probably we will keep flying until we will have any new infrastructure."

His remarks, in English, came during a NASA press conference ahead of Wednesday's launch of a SpaceX rocket that will carry a Russian cosmonaut, two American astronauts and a Japanese astronaut to the ISS.

ISS partner countries -- the United States, Russia, Europe, Canada and Japan -- are for the moment only committed to operate the orbiting laboratory until 2024, though US officials have already stated they want to continue until 2030.

The space sector is one of the few areas of cooperation that have survived the extreme tensions between the United States and Russia since Moscow invaded Ukraine in February.



Death Toll in Russian Missile Strike in Central Ukraine Reaches 18

Emergency employees carry the body of a person killed in a residential area by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine April 4, 2025.  REUTERS/Stringer
Emergency employees carry the body of a person killed in a residential area by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer
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Death Toll in Russian Missile Strike in Central Ukraine Reaches 18

Emergency employees carry the body of a person killed in a residential area by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine April 4, 2025.  REUTERS/Stringer
Emergency employees carry the body of a person killed in a residential area by a Russian missile strike, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk region, Ukraine April 4, 2025. REUTERS/Stringer

The death toll from a Russian missile strike in the central Ukrainian city of Kryvyi Rih has risen to 18, including nine children, regional governor Serhii Lysak said Saturday.
A further 61 people were injured in Friday’s attack, ranging from a 3-month-old baby to elderly residents. Forty remain hospitalized, including two children in critical condition and 17 in serious condition, The Associated Press reported.
“There can never be forgiveness for this,” said Oleksandr Vilkul, head of the city’s defense council. “Eternal memory to the victims.”
Kryvyi Rih is the hometown of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“The missile struck an area right next to residential buildings — hitting a playground and ordinary streets,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.
Local authorities said the strike damaged about 20 apartment buildings, more than 30 vehicles, an educational building and a restaurant.
The Russian Defense Ministry claimed Friday that it had carried out a high-precision missile strike with a high explosive warhead on a restaurant where a meeting with unit commanders and Western instructors was taking place.
The Russian military claimed that the strike killed 85 military personnel and foreign officers and destroyed 20 vehicles. The military’s claims could not be independently verified. The Ukrainian General Staff rejected the claims.
A later drone strike on Kryvyi Rih killed one woman and wounded seven other people.
Zelenskyy blamed the daily strikes on Russia’s unwillingness to end the war: “Every missile, every drone strike proves Russia wants only war," he said, urging Ukraine’s allies to increase pressure on Moscow and bolster Ukraine’s air defenses.
“The United States, Europe, and the rest of the world have enough power to make Russia abandon terror and war,” he said.