deadline of Mir de-orbiting to be postponed

The deadline of the Mir's space life might be changed under certain conditions, as General Director of the Russian Space Agency (Rosviakosmos) Yuriy Koptev stated at yesterday's press conference in Moscow, RBC reports. According to his words, the deadline might be postponed under certain circumstances "beyond reasonable control" and the time of flight night be increased using engines of the Progress space cargo ship, docked to the Mir. Currently the station is 305-323km above the Earth surface and loses about 300-400 meters daily. Furthermore, cosmonauts are ready to be launched to the station if the need is, noted Koptev.