The United States said on Tuesday that the Russians’ “surprise” withdrawal from the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 was “regrettable”, the State Department spokesman said.
“This is an unfortunate development, given the essential scientific work carried out aboard the ISS, the valuable professional collaboration that our space agencies have maintained over the years, and in particular in light of our renewed agreement to cooperate. in space flight,” said Ned Price. he told him during a press conference. “Your public announcement took us by surprise,” he said.
“They were good partners”
The director of the ISS at NASA, Robyn Gatens, assured in the morning that her agency had not received “any official statement” of the Russians’ desire to leave the ISS, during a conference in Washington. “Then we will discuss your plans further,” she added.
“They have been good partners, like all of our partners, and we want to stay together (…) to operate the Space Station throughout the decade,” Robyn Gates continued.
Russia and the United States had notably announced on July 15 that they would resume their joint flights to the ISS: two American astronauts will fly aboard the Russian Soyuz spacecraft during two separate missions, while two Russian cosmonauts will fly for their part aboard SpaceX rockets for the first time.
The Space Station is the result of a large international collaboration and NASA has repeatedly said that it could not work without the contributions of various partners.
Source: BFM TV
