Russia officially quits the International Space Station (ISS)

Context

Russia is responding to the Western sanctions. It has decided to walk out of the International Space Station.

About International Space Station

• The ISS was launched in 1998 as part of joint efforts by the U.S., Russia, Japan, Canada and Europe.
• The idea of a space station originated in the 1984 State of the Union address by former U.S. President Ronald Reagan.
• The International Space Station (ISS) is a space station, or a habitable artificial satellite, in low Earth orbit.
• Its first component launched into orbit in 1998, and the ISS is now the largest human-made body in low Earth orbit.
• It circles the Earth in roughly 92 minutes and completes 15.5 orbits per day.
• The ISS serves as a microgravity and space environment research laboratory in which crew members conduct experiments in biology, human biology, physics, astronomy, meteorology, and other fields.
• Five different space agencies representing 15 countries built the $100-billion International Space Station and continue to operate it today.
• The ISS was originally built to operate for 15 years.
• The ISS programme is a joint project between five participating space agencies-
  • NASA (United States)
  • Roscosmos (Russia)
  • JAXA (Japan)
  • ESA (Europe)
  • CSA (Canada)
• Its ownership and use has been established by intergovernmental treaties and agreements.
• Continuous presence at ISS has resulted in the longest continuous human presence in low earth orbit.
• It is expected to operate until 2030.
  • NASA plans to decommission it in 2031.

Russia’s role in maintaining the ISS

• The ISS is built with the cooperation of scientists from five international space agencies — NASA of the U.S., Roscosmos of Russia, JAXA of Japan, Canadian Space Agency and the European Space Agency.
• Each agency has a role to play and a share in the upkeep of the ISS.
• Both in terms of expense and effort, it is not a feat that a single country can support.
• Russia’s part in the collaboration is the module responsible for making course corrections to the orbit of the ISS.
• They also ferry astronauts to the ISS from the Earth and back.
• Until SpaceX’s dragon spacecraft came into the picture the Russian spacecrafts were the only way of reaching the ISS and returning.