NASA and Roscosmos are discussing how to divide responsibility for deorbiting the International Space Station from low Earth orbit, according to Russian news agency TASS.
The general director of the Russian state space corporation said that the partner agencies extended station operations from 2028 to 2030. He explained that officials are currently negotiating how the deorbiting procedure will be split, including which agency will take responsibility for specific segments and hardware components.
The Roscosmos chief noted that negotiators have approximately a year and a half left to complete discussions and finalize the division of duties.
Spacecraft and final stage operations
Roscosmos stated in August that three spacecraft will be deployed to bring the orbital laboratory down from low Earth orbit. The agency confirmed that the maneuver will be carried out by two Russian ships and one American ship.
Hero of Russia Oleg Kononenko, who serves as commander of the Roscosmos cosmonaut detachment and head of the Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, previously stated that the United States will conduct the final stage of the station's deorbiting sequence.
The Yuri Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center, situated near Moscow, is Russia's primary facility for training cosmonauts and preparing international crews for orbital missions.
International station background
The International Space Station is a habitable microgravity research facility operating in low Earth orbit. The project is managed through an international partnership linking NASA, Roscosmos, the European Space Agency, the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, and the Canadian Space Agency.
NASA, the United States space agency, and Roscosmos, Russia's state space corporation, handle primary command, propulsion, and life support functions for the station. Russia provides core propulsion systems, while the United States supplies electrical power and guidance systems.
Low Earth orbit is an orbital trajectory positioned within 2,000 kilometers of Earth's surface. At this altitude, spacecraft experience residual atmospheric drag, requiring periodic reboosts or planned deorbiting maneuvers when operational lifespans conclude.
With station hardware operating continuously in orbit, the managing space agencies are preparing a coordinated disposal strategy to ensure structural debris lands in remote ocean waters at the end of the mission in 2030.
