On March 28, the head of Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, suggested that the United States and Russia will work together to build a successor to the International Space Station, despite earlier reports that Russia plans to end its commitment to the space station in 2024 and build a national space station. According to Space News, NASA denied any firm plans to build a new International Space Station.
"Roscosmos and NASA will fulfill the program of building a future orbital station," Komarov said at a briefing at the Baikonur Cosmodrome, according to Space News. "We will elaborate the details. It is going to be an open project, not restricted only to current participants, but open for other countries willing to join it."
NASA spokesman David Weaver released a statement to Space News that said, "We are pleased Roscosmos wants to continue full use of the International Space Station through 2024 - a priority of ours - and expressed interest in continuing international cooperation for human space exploration beyond that."
Weaver mentioned the United States' interest in having international cooperation for a human mission to Mars, but did not speak specifically to Komarov's statements. "Today we remain focused on full use of our current science laboratory in orbit and research from the exciting one-year mission astronaut Scott Kelly just began, which will help prepare us for longer duration spaceflight," Weaver said in the statement, according to Space News.
NASA has recently mentioned that the International Space Station's successor will not be built by NASA, rather, by commercial facilities. "At some point this space station will wear out and there needs to be a follow-on space station," said NASA Associate Administrator for Human Exploration and Operations William Gerstenmaier in February, according to Space News. "What we're hoping for is that the private sector picks that up."
To read more about the space station plans Russia discussed last month, click here.
