Russia 'open' to space deal extension

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado - Russia is open to extending its partnership in the International Space Station with the United States, Europe, Japan and Canada beyond the currently planned end of the program in 2024, the head of the Russian space agency said on Tuesday.

"We are ready to discuss it," Igor Komarov, general director of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, said at the US Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, when asked if his country would consider a four-year extension.

The $100 billion science and engineering laboratory, orbiting 400 kilometers above Earth, has been permanently staffed by rotating crews of astronauts and cosmonauts since November 2000.