According to the "Reference News" quoted by the British "Independent" website, although the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) intends to extend the decommissioning time of the International Space Station to 2031, in the context of continued tensions between the United States and Russia, Russia is likely to choose to withdraw from the International Space Station, which will lead to the destruction of the International Space Station at a faster rate.
Russian Satellite News Agency reported that Dmitry Rogozin, general manager of the Russian State Space Corporation, said that without Russia's participation, the International Space Station, which has exceeded the service period, will inevitably be paralyzed. The head of NASA's manned space program said it is difficult for the United States to operate the International Space Station independently, and NASA is exploring how to keep the International Space Station in orbit without Russian help.
The International Space Station is jointly built by NASA, the European Space Agency, the Russian Federal Space Agency, the Canadian Space Agency and the Japan Aerospace Exploration and Development Agency, and is the world's largest space project to date, which was launched in 1998 and officially completed in 2011. The ISS relies heavily on Russia to provide key components for the laboratory, as well as supplies, power generation, and even raising the height of the station to prevent it from crashing into Earth. According to the design life, the International Space Station can only operate in orbit for 15 years, but the actual use time has exceeded expectations. After the United States imposed sanctions on the Russian aerospace industry and space program, Russia issued a warning: Who can save the International Space Station from uncontrolled deorbiting and falling to the United States or Europe?
In addition, the United States is heavily dependent on Russian launch vehicle engines, especially the RD-180 high-thrust liquid oxygen kerosene rocket engine. Some time ago, Russia announced that it would stop delivering new rocket engines to the United States. This means that the United States must find a replacement for russian rocket engines as soon as possible, otherwise it will not even be able to launch launch vehicles, let alone save the International Space Station.
Where will the International Space Station go? The global eye is focused on Musk and his SpaceX company. SpaceX has undertaken a number of civilian and military space launch missions in recent years, and the company's Dragon spacecraft has been transporting astronauts to the space station since 2020, and it is very likely that it will replace the Russian module in the future, providing supplies and controlling altitude.
However, NASA believes that the use of other measures to replace the Russian module can only be used as an emergency measure, for a long time, the International Space Station was a national partnership, must be based on common dependence, the lack of one of them, is very likely to be a problem. It would be very sad if the United States and Russia could not continue to cooperate in space.
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