Russia and the United States will continue to work with each other on the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024, reports the Interfax news agency. The news agency cited a senior Russian official at Roscosmos space agency.

Roscosmos head Dmitry Rogozin in June suggested Moscow would withdraw from the space laboratory in 2025 unless Washington lifted sanctions on the space sector that were affecting the Russian satellite launches. NASA wants to continue work aboard the ISS until at least 2030. The space agency’s Bill Nelson said that “if Russia pulls out, it would not be good.” 

Russia making its own path?

Recently, Russia’s Nauka module docked to the ISS. But just three hours later, the module sent the space laboratory off course when it suddenly fired up its thrusters. The Russian space agency Roscosmos said that a software glitch caused Nauka to start its thrusters.

Previously, Russia and China also announced a joint space venture. Both nations will come together to build an International Lunar Research Station (ILRS). The first stage of the space station running from 2021 until 2025 will gather data and verify high-precision landings. The second phase will run from 2026 to 2035 and will involve work on cargo delivery. The third and last stage of the mission will begin from 2036 and would see the first crewed lunar landings.

Lunar missions clashing

The location of the lunar station is not decided yet; however, one idea involves landing on the Amundsen crater near the South Pole. It’s the same region where NASA is planning its lunar program. The US space agency launched its Artemis Program in 2017 with an aim to send humans back on the Moon, specifically the South Pole, by the mid-2020s. 

Previously, Russia also refused NASA’s offer to develop the Moon Gateway, a small space station in lunar orbit. Instead, Roscosmos collaborated with the Chinese space agency and agreed to build an “International Scientific Lunar Station” in lunar orbit.