In a similar way to arranging a semi-amicable divorce, Russia has formally given notice to its spacefaring partner nations, NASA, ESA and JAXA, that it will remain part of the International Space Station (ISS) until 2024, the year that NASA itself wants to end the ISS. After this date, Roscosmos, the current Russian Space Agency, says in a statement that it will split its modules away from the rest of the space station to act as the initial building blocks for a new Russian orbiting outpost. The end date of 2024 is four years longer than the space station was originally due to last, but four years less than engineering assessments said its life could be extended to.
Comment by David Todd: Political tensions between Russia and the West over the annexation of parts of Ukraine (and previously parts of Georgia) look likely to end one of the great, if hugely expensive, achievements in international cooperation and large scale space construction.
