Russia is considering the construction of its own space station to replace the ISS

The 23-year US-Russia partnership that has kept the International Space Station (ISS) in orbit may soon be over, Russian authorities suggested this week.

Yury Borisov, the Russian Deputy Prime Minister, reportedly said in a government meeting that the nation might withdraw from the ISS in 2025, according to a state TV news report on April 18. Borisov cited the deteriorating condition of the space station — which was launched in 1998 by NASA and the Russian space agency Roscosmos — as the primary reason for the potential departure.

"We cannot put [our cosmonauts] at risk," Borisov said, according to the BBC. “Structure and metal [age] and can have irreversible or even catastrophic effects.”

Later that day, Borisov released a statement partially walking back the 2025 departure date, saying, "a technical inspection is needed, and then we can make a decision and inform our partners," according to Science magazine.

Meanwhile, officials with Roscosmos announced that work has already begun on a national space station, which would serve as a successor to the country's Salyut and Mir stations, launched into low Earth orbit in the 1970s and 80s. Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos, posted a video to the messaging app Telegram saying, "the first core module of the new Russian orbital station is in the works" and could be complete by 2025, the BBC reported.

Rogozin added that Russia would not leave the ISS until the completion of this potential new station. However, even with sufficient notice, Russia's potential departure could put a great deal of pressure on NASA and the other agencies that rely on the ISS.

"ISS partners would have a really hard time keeping the station functional without Russia," Vitaly Egorov, an industry observer and former spokesperson for Russia's Dauria Aerospace company, told Science magazine. The freight and crew services provided by SpaceX could potentially help fill the blanks left by Roscosmos, the magazine adds.