Andrei Younin, a member of the Russian Academy of Space Navigation, announced that the next three years should be dedicated to preparing the International Space Station for its decommissioning process. The expert notes in an interview with the newspaper "Izvestia" that preparing the station for decommissioning is a complex operation from both a ballistic and technical standpoint, as there is no previous experience worldwide of decommissioning a structure weighing 400 tons. He adds that more than 20 years ago, the Soviet space station "Mir," which weighed only about 100 tons, was decommissioned.
He states, "Of course, we cannot allow the International Space Station to fall, but it has not yet been determined how that will be done. It is likely that the station will be divided into its constituent parts—detaching the Russian segment for decommissioning while retaining the American segment. However, this is not possible because the design of the space station is akin to a car. For Russia, there is the engine and wheels, while for the United States, there is the body and fuel tank." According to him, the segments cannot remain separate. The station is old, and attempting to create a replacement for the Russian segment would take more than three years.
He adds that although cooperation regarding the International Space Station is set to end in 2024, it may realistically continue until 2025 due to the challenges associated with its decommissioning. Younin points out that European countries, Canada, and Japan will be the most affected by this situation, as they will effectively "disappear" from the realm of manned space navigation.
