BAKU, October 2. /TASS/. The extension of the operation of the International Space Station (ISS) after 2028 will depend on the orbital outpost’s technical condition, Roscosmos Chief Yury Borisov said on Monday.

"We have, indeed, extended our participation in the ISS international project to 2028. Further participation will depend on the station’s technical condition," the Roscosmos head said at a meeting of space agency chiefs at the International Astronautical Congress in Baku.

Should the participating states decide on terminating the project, they will properly de-orbit the space station, Borisov said.

"Unfortunately, this remarkable project will end some day and the station will cease to exist and I confirm that we will take all efforts together with our counterparts to properly de-orbit it," the Roscosmos chief said.

Roscosmos Chief 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 by Russian cosmonauts and some other factors.

In late February 2023, the Roscosmos scientific-technical council held a meeting attended by the leadership of the space corporation, its subsidiaries and organizations of the Russian Academy of Sciences acting as contractors under the ISS Russian segment project. Following the results of the meeting, the scientific-technical council approved the decision on extending the service life of the orbital outpost’s Russian segment to 2028 and began preparing relevant documents for the government.

On April 12 this year, Borisov told Russian President Vladimir Putin that the government had made a decision to extend the operation of the ISS Russian segment to 2028.