Draft program for ISS deorbiting developed - Roscosmos CEO

MOSCOW. July 29 (Interfax) - A draft program to deorbit the International Space Station (ISS) has been drawn up, and the sinking process is expected to take about two and a half years, Roscosmos Russian State Space Corporation CEO Dmitry Bakanov said.

"A draft program to deorbit the station has already been developed. According to specialists' estimates, this process will take around two and a half years in total," Bakanov was quoted by the Roscosmos press service as saying.

On July 18, Roscosmos said the joint Russian-U.S. commission on the ISS had met in Moscow to discuss options for the station's safe deorbiting.

On June 18, Bakanov told Interfax specialists were regularly analyzing the state of the ISS' Russian segment, which would stay in operation at least until 2028.

On April 12, Bakanov said that Roscosmos and NASA agreed to synchronize the deadlines for the completion of work aboard the ISS.

In December 2023, the U.S. government approved extending the agreement on the ISS' operations until 2030. In April that year, Russia also informed the partners that it was extending its participation in the ISS project until 2028.

The then Roscosmos CEO, Yury Borisov, said on November 22, 2024 that the ISS would be fully sunk using Russia's Progress resupply ships after the completion of the ISS project.

On January 25, 2022, ISS Russian segment flight director Vladimir Solovyov said the U.S. was in favor of the idea of sinking the ISS upon completion of its operations and had asked Russia to calculate the options for the station's deorbiting.