Russia signs Mir 'death warrant'

Russia has come under pressure to curtail the Mir mission

Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov has signed a decree ordering the destruction of the Mir space station after a 15-year mission that has lately been dogged by problems.

Progress rockets have flown supply missions to Mir

A space agency spokesman said Mr Kasyanov had signed the document on 30 December, formalising a November decision by the government to take Mir out of service due to a lack of funding.

Space officials said a supply craft would be launched in the coming weeks to take the final stocks of fuel to Mir to give the station enough momentum to send it back towards Earth.

The 137-tonne vessel, which has been unmanned since August 2000, is expected to disintegrate as it re-enters the atmosphere. Fragments of the space station will either burn up or splash down into the Pacific Ocean.

Doubts over splash-down

Russian space officials hope the fragments will land about 1,500km (900 miles) east of Australia.

Mir: Sizeable chunks will survive re-entry

However, warnings have come from space experts that there are no guarantees that the disposal of Mir will be achieved smoothly.

Precise dates have not been determined, but on Thursday space officials were quoted as saying the Progress supply rocket would be launched on 18 January and Mir would crash to Earth on 27 or 28 February.

More than 100 Russian and foreign cosmonauts have flown on Mir, carrying out scientific experiments and setting a series of space endurance records.

The mission was originally intended to last only five years.