Russia confirms it will use the International Space Station until 2024 after threatening to stop financing it in 2020.

       After threatening to stop financing the International Space Station in 2020, Russia has extended it's plan to use it until 2024.

The Russian space agency announced Tuesday that it would undock its modules to create a standalone base in orbit after 2024. 

The space agency released a statement on Tuesday about it's plan for activities regarding space and its missions until 2030, which also included manned missions to the Moon.

It read, “a configuration of a multi-purpose laboratory module, a (docking) node module, and a scientific power module creates a promising Russian space station to meet the challenges of providing secure access to space (for Russia).... Close to 2030, the plan is to move over to manned flights to the Moon."

 An independent space analyst Vadim Lukashevich said Russia's decision to postpone its departure from the ISS to 2024 is due to the current economic crisis, sparked by low oil prices and US sanctions over Ukraine. "All these hopes and dreams have been cancelled by the crisis. There's no money for a new station," Lukashevich told AFP.

He added, "Clear-headed people decided to stay on the ISS. Otherwise we risk losing our manned space exploration." Among all sixteen nations involved with the ISS, Russia and the US providing most of the financial backing.

 Russia is the only country able to transport astronauts to the international station since NASA ended the space shuttle program.

This year Russian space agency is set to carry the first space tourist since 2009, British soprano Sarah Brightman.

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