NASA has not yet received any “official” notification of the Russians’ intention to leave the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024, a senior US space agency official said on Tuesday, AFP reported.

“We have not received any official statement from our partner regarding today’s information,” said Robin Gaitens, director of NASA’s ISS division, during a news conference in Washington on Tuesday. “So we will continue to discuss their plans,” she added.

The US wants to keep the ISS running until 2030, but the new head of Russia’s Roscosmos space agency said on Tuesday that Russia would stop participating in the program “after 2024”.

Asked if the United States wants the Russians out of the ISS, Robin Gatens said, “No, absolutely not. They have been good partners, as have all of our partners, and we want to continue working together as a partnership to operate the space station this decade.”

The International Space Station is the result of a huge international collaboration, and NASA has repeatedly stated that the ISS could not function without the contributions of various partners.

From 2030, NASA expects to transition to commercial space stations, in the development of which it is already involved, wanting to lease their services after the ISS is decommissioned.

“The Russians, like us, are thinking about what’s next,” said Robin Gatens. “Since we plan to transition to commercial low-orbit stations after 2030, they have a similar project. Therefore, they are also thinking about this transition,” she also assured.

The reaction from a NASA official came after Roscosmos on Tuesday unveiled plans for an Orbital Servicing Station (ROSS) that Russia says it will begin building by 2024, the year after which it says it will leave the International Space Station for good.

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The plans were published in the Telegram channel of Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency reported that the basic, scientific, energy and connecting modules will be deployed at the first stage of the construction of the Russian Space Agency.

Roscosmos states that two crew members will be able to live on the station at this stage.

The second phase of the project will focus on the creation of production modules and a service platform, while the capacity of ROSS will increase to four people.

Russia says it will leave the ISS in 2024

The new Director General of Roscosmos, Yuri Borisov, said at a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday that “the decision on Russia’s withdrawal from the International Space Station project after 2024 has been made.”

He also noted that by this time all obligations to partners will be fulfilled.

In April 2021, Borisov, who at the time was the Deputy Prime Minister for Defense Industry Coordination, said that the state of the ISS left much to be desired and that Russia would focus on creating its own orbital station.

Dmytro Rogozin, until recently director of the Russian Space Agency, said in February that financial constraints made it difficult to maintain a presence aboard the ISS and build a new space station at the same time.

Roscosmos declares that it will build its own space station despite the sanctions

Last month, Roscosmos said it would continue cooperation with the ISS until Russia builds its own space station. However, the decision to leave the ISS after 2024 could mean that Russia will be without a man in space for the first time in a quarter of a century.

Rogozin, who threatened that the International Space Station could collapse due to sanctions against Russia when he was head of Roscosmos, said a certain “overlap period” was needed, with the ISS and ROS operating in parallel for a period of time.

In the spring, the state corporation and RKK “Energia” signed a state contract for the development of a sketch project of a promising Russian orbital station.

Many Western analysts and experts question Russia’s ability to build its own space station because of Western sanctions, which have hit hard at Moscow’s ability to procure electronics and advanced technology.