The race to control more of space continued to heat up this week. Russia announced plans to create its own space station, while China sent crews to work on the final phases of its new orbital outpost. And the U.S. continues to work on future outer-space options.
Moscow announced Tuesday that it is pulling out of the International Space Station in 2025, the Associated Press reported. The Kremlin said it wants to work on building its own station, leading to questions about the future of the nearly quarter-century-old International Space Station.
The announced pullout did not come as a major surprise, since Russian officials have long declared their intentions of creating their own station and criticized the aging ISS. Previous space officials in Moscow have also stated that the government planned to leave the station when current agreements for the ISS’ operation end in 2024.
Experts cited by the AP said keeping the station up and running through its scheduled end in 2030 without the Russians would be extremely difficult, with one even calling it a “nightmare.” However, NASA and the space agencies of Japan, Europe, and Canada plan to keep it running until its scheduled plunge into the ocean in eight years. In fact, they have some new projects for the ISS in the works, including the world’s first space-based entertainment studio and sports arena, the BBC said.
Russia’s not the only U.S. adversary currently making moves in space. Just this week, Chinese space officials said their nation was significantly closer to finalizing its space station after successfully docking a lab module to its under-construction project, keeping the Tiangong station — the world’s second operational space station — on pace to be done by the end of 2024, according to CNN.
The U.S. is still pursuing space interests as well. Along with continuing its efforts on the ISS, NASA is working with multiple private companies in a race for the next space station and to get Americans back on the moon. The agency is also working to counter Chinese efforts to build a military base on the surface of the moon.
