Yuri Borisov, the head of the Russian space agency, Roscosmos, supported Putin’s position as a means of maintaining the country’s capabilities in manned space flight.
“The ISS is aging and will be retired around 2030,” Russian agencies told reporters.
“If we do not start large-scale work on creating a Russian orbital station in 2024, it is quite likely that we will lose our potential due to the time lag. What I mean to say is that the ISS will no longer be there and the Russian station will not be ready.” In his remarks, Putin also said he had been fully briefed on the technical mishaps that led to the crash landing of the Luna-25 spacecraft on the moon’s south pole in August.
“We will definitely work on it. The lunar program will continue. There are no plans to close it,” Putin said.
“Mistakes are mistakes. This is a matter of shame for all of us. This is space exploration and everyone understands that. This is experience we can use in the future.”
Borisov said the next moon launch, now planned, could be pushed back from 2027 to 2026.