Russia ‘really stops’ with the ISS, but is the country willing and able to do so?

Russia says it has decided to stop operating the International Space Station after 2024. This has been rumored for some time, but the new boss of space agency Roscosmos now confirms it. However, the question is whether the country can and will actually stop the program.

Russia has been boasting for some time that it wants to end the ISS program. Russia, together with America, is the largest partner in the ISS. Europe and Canada are also participating in the program. For a long time, experts didn’t take bluffs that seriously, but there are reasons to believe that the situation is different this time. The question then follows whether Russia can, wants and will have a future without the ISS: it is currently the reason for the existence of the Russian program.