NASA denies the United States has agreed to build a new orbital space station with Russia.
Russian space agency head Igor Komarov said on March 28 that NASA and Roscosmos agreed to extend operations of the International Space Station (ISS) to 2024 and work on a replacement after that.
NASA spokesman David Weaver said later on March 28 that the U.S. space agency appreciated Russia's commitment to full use of the ISS through 2024 and its expression of "interest in continuing international cooperation for human space exploration beyond that.”
He did not confirm any plans for a future space station.
NASA's top official in Russia, Sean Fuller, was quoted on March 31 as saying that Komarov and NASA head Charles Bolden discussed future opportunities for cooperation, but that no deal to build a new space station was agreed.
"Some of the things said there were taken out of context," Fuller told The Moscow Times.
