Russia Confident of ISS Extension Beyond 2015

Amidst celebration of the successful landing of Soyuz TMA-14 yesterday, Alexei Krasnov, head of spaceflight operations at the Russian space agency Roscosmos, expressed confidence that the International Space Station (ISS) will be extended beyond 2015 during a news conference, Reuters reports. Referring to an expected meeting of ISS partners to be held in Japan in March 2010, Krasnov said “the main question to be raised is whether to extend the life of the ISS beyond 2015. I believe the issue will be approved.”

In light of the upcoming retirement of the U.S. Space Shuttle fleet, any extension of the ISS beyond the current 2015 deadline will continue reliance on Russian systems to service the station even when new U.S. systems become available. For now, Vitaly Lopota, General Director of RKK Energia, which manufactures the Soyuz capsules, told the press conference that Russia had doubled the number of crewed Soyuz launches this year (from two to four), and is increasing to six per year the number of cargo launches.

The Russian statements made on Sunday echo comments made by Roscosmos head Anatoly Perminov to the Augustine committee in June. Mr. Perminov and European Space Agency Director General Jean-Jacques Dordain held a teleconference with the committee and both expressed optimism about an ISS extension. The Augustine committee expressed strong support for extending ISS at least until 2020 in its Summary Report in order to increase its return on investment and to enhance relations between the United States and its international partners.