Russia calls for further cooperation in ISS project - Roscosmos head
ADELAIDE. Sept 25 (Interfax) - Russia has no intention to make its segment of the International Space Station (ISS) autonomous, Roscosmos head Igor Komarov told reporters on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress (IAC) hosted by Australia.
"We have no plans to detach the Russian segment from the ISS. We think that cooperation in the ISS project should continue," Komarov said.
Sergei Krikalev, Roscosmos' manned programs director, backed up the idea of international cooperation aboard the ISS as well.
"We are also set to carry on the joint activity in the near-Earth orbit. We will ponder various scenarios of the ISS future and choose the optimal one," Krikalev said.
"The possibility of separating the ISS Russian segment as an independent station was suggested against the backdrop of the U.S. plans to sink the International Space Station. If the U.S. actually decides to sink the station, we will definitely make some moves," he said.
"There is no such decision yet, and neither the United States nor we want to curtail cooperation," he said.
According to the current agreement, the ISS project will go on until 2024, and may be extended until 2028.
A number of media outlets have suggested various scenarios of the project, from separation of the Russian segment, including the Nauka multifunctional laboratory module, as an independent station to the construction of a new international station.