Russia, US agree on extending cooperation on ISS

Russian space agency Roscosmos and its U.S. partner NASA have agreed on the extension of their cooperation on the International Space Station (ISS), Roscosmos said Saturday.
Roscosmos and NASA have come to agreement on extending their cooperation by nine years to 2024, and the two sides will conduct joint researches on the future use of the ISS and manned space missions, according to media reports, citing a news briefing given by heads of both agencies.

The two space agencies also discussed the plan to jointly build a new space station to replace the current one when its service life expires.

"Roscosmos and NASA will fulfill the program of building a future orbital station. It is going to be an open project for other countries willing to join it," Roscosmos head Igor Komarov was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.

Charles Bolden, head of NASA, noted that one day the ISS would be unable to work properly and should be replaced.

The ISS was launched in 1998, and participants of the project, including the United States, Canada, Russia, Japan and the European Union, originally agreed to extend its operation to 2020. 
  Xinhua - china.org.cn
29/3/15
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