Roscosmos has published plans for an Orbital Service Station (ROSS), which Russia says it will begin building by 2024, after which it will leave the International Space Station (ISS) for good, TASS reports.

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 construction of production modules and a service platform, while the capacity of ROSS will increase to 4 people.

Russia says it will leave the ISS in 2024

The new Director General of Roscosmos, Yuriy 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.