The Russian space station Mir as seen by a U.S. space shuttle. Photo: NASA

Work has started to prepare the aging Russian space station Mir to be reopened.

The station was abandoned by what was expected to be the final full-time cosmonaut crew in August. The 14-year old outpost, battered by mechanical breakdowns, a dangerous onboard fire and collision with a cargo ship, was slated for a suicidal dive into the Earth's atmosphere later this year.

But recently, Russian officials have expressed plans to keep station aloft.

Ground controllers nudged the station's orbit higher on Tuesday using a Progress resupply freighter docked to Mir, the Itar-Tass news agency reported.

Over the past week, the 12 gyroscopes used to maintain Mir's attitude control and the station's main computer have been activated, systems inside the attached modules were checked and batteries were recharged a Russian Mission Control spokesman told Itar-Tass.

A fresh Progress cargo ship is slated for launch February 1 aboard a Soyuz rocket from Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakhstan. A crew would be dispatched to Mir on March 30 for a two-month mission.

Commercial uses of the station could then follow if funding is secured.

The U.S. has long urged Russia to deorbit Mir so that its scarce space budget could be used for the International Space Station program.