The United States wants to end its involvement in funding for the International Space Station (ISS) and push for the privatization of the space laboratory, the Washington Post reported, citing an internal NASA document. Consequently, US participation in the ISS could be transferred to a private operator after the end of planned funding in 2024.
For almost 20 years, the US, Russian, Japanese, Canadian and European Union space agencies have been working together on the ISS. Recently, members had confirmed its funding until 2024. Although much discussion has taken place in Russia about the construction of a national space station, due to the high cost, the continuation of the ISS program has not been ruled out so far.
This billion-dollar project began in the fall of 1998. Since 2000, the research laboratory has been constantly orbiting about 400 kilometers above the earth at a speed of about 28.000 kilometers per hour. The six-member crew is conducting basic research on weightlessness.
The crew currently consists of three Americans, two Russians and one Japanese. The transfer of the German Alexander Gerst is scheduled for June, who will stay for a few months in the ISS.
The termination of state funding does not mean that the station will be shut down, according to the NASA document. "It is possible that certain parts or capabilities of the ISS will continue to operate as part of a future trading platform."
The goal of the US government under Donald Trump is to use the ISS for "non-state flights". NASA could be one of the many customers, the newspaper reports.
Russian expert Ivan Moiseyev has criticized US plans for the ISS as nonsense. "It will not work," he told Ria Novosti. The cost of the ISS is so high that only states could raise it. "Businesses are working for profit, that is their only goal. "But the ISS is not making a profit, because the costs are significantly higher than any possible revenue," said the head of the Moscow Institute for Space Policy.
Trump's priority is Mars
Nasa alone pays $ 3 billion to $ 4 billion a year to run the ISS. Russia is the second largest financier
Trump had given Nasa a clear direction for the ISS in December: the US wants to send astronauts to the Moon and Mars. That's why Nasa is planning a new space station. This so-called new space gate will orbit the Moon to facilitate lunar missions and spaceflight. Russia has already agreed to cooperate. Experts do not rule out that the two forces could in the future move from the ISS to such a project.