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.



Dutch Tighten Controls on Military and Dual Use Exports to Israel

Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
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Dutch Tighten Controls on Military and Dual Use Exports to Israel

Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo
Containers in the Port of Rotterdam are seen in Rotterdam, Netherlands, November 1, 2022. REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw/File Photo

The Dutch government said on Monday it had tightened export controls for all military and 'dual use' goods destined for Israel.

All direct exports and the transit of these goods to Israel will be checked to see if they comply with European regulations, and will no longer be covered by general export licences, the government said in a letter to parliament.

"This is desirable considering the security situation in Israel, the Palestinian territories and the wider region," foreign minister Caspar Veldkamp and trade minister Reinette Klever wrote, Reuters reported.

"Exporters will still be able to request permits, that will then be checked against European regulations."

The government said no military goods for Israel had been exported from the Netherlands under a general permit since Israel started its war in Gaza following the attacks by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

It said that the general licence for the export of "low risk information security goods", such as routers for network security, was frequently used for export to Israel.

It estimated that between 50 and 100 permits for the export of those goods would now have to be requested on an individual basis.

A Dutch court last year ordered the government to block all exports of F-35 fighter jet parts to Israel over concerns they were being used to violate international law during the war in Gaza.