Leaks are affecting a key part of the International Space Station. NASA and Russia’s space agency, Roscosmos, are not seeing eye to eye about the level of risk.

Officials with NASA are at odds with their counterparts at the Russian space agency Roscosmos over the severity of a leak aboard the International Space Station.

Now, NASA may need to accelerate both of those plans -- because the ISS is leaking. That's bad news for NASA, but it may be good news for the several U.S. companies hoping to build a new space station.

The International Space Station has an ongoing leak that the agency calls a "top safety risk." Here's how the leak is being managed on the aging orbital laboratory.

NASA has concerns about the structural integrity of the Russian module and the "possibility of a catastrophic failure," per ISS Advisory Committee chair Bob Cabana

A section of the Russian-controlled International Space Station (ISS) has been leaking for several years, letting pressure and air escape. The leak has recently gotten worse, raising questions about both the crew’s safety and the orbiting laboratory’s long-term sustainability.

A recent report out last month from NASA’s Office of the Inspector General highlighted some of the big challenges to keeping the ISS flying safely until 2030.