MOSCOW, February 21. /TASS/. The scientific-technical council of Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos has approved a decision to extend the operation of the Russian segment of the International Space Station (ISS) to 2028, Roscosmos announced on Tuesday.

"Today, the state corporation Roscosmos held a meeting of the presidium of its scientific-technical council, which examined and approved a decision by the council of chief designers to extend the service life of the Russian segment of the International Space Station to 2028," Roscosmos said in a statement.

The meeting was attended by the leadership of Roscosmos, its enterprises and organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences that are contractors under the ISS project. In particular, the participants in the meeting discussed the technical condition of the ISS Russian segment and measures for extending its service life, medical provision and the expansion of the applied research program, it said.

"Based on the results of the scientific-technical council’s meeting, Roscosmos will prepare documents for applying to the Russian government for extending the service life of the ISS Russian segment to 2028," the statement reads.

At its session at the Energia Space Rocket Corporation in early February, the council of chief designers recommended extending the service life of the ISS Russian segment to 2028.

Roscosmos Chief Yury Borisov told TASS in November last year that the term of Russia’s participation in the ISS project would depend on the technical condition of the Russian segment, the timeframe of deploying the new Russian Orbital Station (ROS), the commencement of space flights to the national orbiter and some other factors.

On his part, Russian Deputy Prime Minister, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in late October 2022 that Russia deemed it possible to extend the service life of the ISS Russian segment to 2028 until Russia deployed the national orbital station in its minimal configuration.