Russia plans for own space station
Russia will consider re vising the terms of its par ticipation in the International Space Station, and begin deploying its own ser vice orbital station af ter 202 4, a senior Russian official said on Thursday.
Russian space agenc y Roscosmos said it will remain part of the ISS until 2024 and that it is open to extending its participation beyond then.
“We have to reconsider the terms of fur ther par ticipation in the ISS program and focus on the implementation of orbital station programs, ” Vladimir Solovyov , deput y head of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation, was quoted as sa ying by the Scientific Russia internet portal.
The staterun compan y oversees the R ussian segment of the ISS, which was launched in 1998 by the Russian and US state space agencies.
Solovyov, who was speaking at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences focusing on space, did not say whether Russia should quit the ISS before 2024.
On operational mat ters, the ISS crew repor ted to R ussia’s Flight Control Center on Oc t 15 that the cosmonauts had found a possible air leak spot in the intersection compartment of the Zvezda module with the help of a tea bag.
In the account by the cosmonauts, the air was possibly leaking through a frac ture. It has now been sealed under a temporar y fix from what was a vailable in the space station, the cre w repor ted, providing an insight into some of the problems they have to contend with.
Solovyov said a lot of the equipment on the ISS was star ting to age and that it needed to be replaced. He said there would be an “avalanche” of broken equipment there after 2025.
Russia may deploy its own service orbital station af ter 2024, Solovyov said of the facilit y that would be manned by up to four cosmonauts.
At the meeting, Solovyov presented details on the project to establish the Russian Orbital Service Station, or ROSS, which is under de velopment by Energia.
He said the ne w station will comprise three to se ven modules, and could be operated by a crew of two to four cosmonauts. T he station will also be able to operate autonomously.
“The cosmonauts will work on the station in shif ts, in order to reduce the cre w’s radiation e xposure and operating costs,” Solovyov said.
According to Solovyov , the ROSS will ser ve a number of purposes, including remote probing , research, experiments, communications, navigation, manmade disaster detection, geological sur veys, par ticipation in educational projec ts, forestr y monitoring and space tourism.
The achievement of Russia’s main goals in space depends on the orbital space station programs, among other things, the official said. He added that the ne w station would confer advantages such as open architec ture and an unlimited lifespan, thanks to replaceable modules.