Today, Russia announced that they would be formally withdrawing from the International Space Station, or ISS, in 2024. The move comes after rising tensions between Russia and The West over the invasion of Ukraine.
The ISS was created in the 1990s as a signal of cooperation after the Cold War. Since then, many international space agencies like the European Space Agency, Canadian Space Agency, and the Japanese Aerospace Exploration Agency have joined.
Rich Cooper is the Vice President of Strategic Communications for the Space Foundation in Colorado Springs. They work closely with several agencies for space exploration. He's saddened by the news.
"This departure, it's disappointing to hear. There are a lot of countries that we are operating with, with the International Space Station, that have already stepped forward to say 'we're going to continue to work with the ISS, and continue to build that work,'" says Cooper.
For now, astronauts and cosmonauts will have to work together for the next two years. The ISS currently plans to operate until the end of the decade. By then, Cooper says, the new generation of space stations will already be in the stars.
"We have a very healthy global space ecosystem. So while the future of the international space station certainly has its end date in mind with 2030, the future for space stations and other missions remains quite promising," he says.
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