Russia transfers modules built for ISS to domestic space station

Russia plans to create its own orbiting station, which will be used by astronauts after the destruction of the domestic segment of the ISS.

According to the Moskovsky Komsomolets newspaper, the project to build Russia’s own domestic space station was approved by President Vladimir Putin during a closed-door meeting on the development of the space industry. Work on creating a national orbital station is scheduled to launch in the near future. Experts are faced with the task of building the space object as soon as possible, in order to prevent the long-term absence of Russian cosmonauts in orbit. The publication Moskovsky Komsomolets reminds that the estimated service life of the Russian segment on the International Space Station will end in 2025. After that, the module will be destroyed. The proposal to abandon the ISS was previously announced by the Russian National Space Corporation – Roscosmos. The experts of the above enterprise believe that serious system problems of the orbiting station in operation may begin soon, as its useful life is about to end. According to preliminary estimates, maintaining the Russian segment on the ISS in the coming years will cost 10-15 billion rubles, which is very expensive compared to building a completely new one. The International Space Station has been in use since 1998, its life will end in 2024. Currently, the countries participating in the project are considering options to prolong the existence of the multi-space space research complex. capacity until 2030. In the meantime, it is known that some components for the International Space Station ISS will be utilized by Russia. The first basic module for the future Russian national orbital station could be a component previously designed for the ISS. Experts from RSC Energia are currently working on the Science and Energy module (NEM) and it will be ready for launch in 2025. The head of the Roscosmos Group – Mr. Dmitry Rogozin wrote about this on the Telegram channel of the company. myself. Mr. Rogozin also reiterated that Russia intends to withdraw from the ISS after 2025. By that time, Moscow plans to build its own orbiting station for scientific research purposes. Earlier, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov said that the situation related to the “aging” of the ISS structure could lead to dire consequences. So Moscow should create an alternative as soon as possible and not put the astronauts at risk. In addition, Borisov also revealed that the future national orbiting station could become “high-orbit” (located above the ISS), which would not only be used for scientific research, but also serve as a “transshipment base” in the mission to conquer the Moon. As for the NEM module, work on its creation began in 2012. According to the plan, by 2015 the device should have ensured energy independence for the Russian subdivision on the ISS. However, at that time only the preliminary design was completed. NEM’s ground tests only really started in 2018. While its launch date has been repeatedly postponed. In the coming time, Russian scientists will certainly have to be more active, because progress is increasingly urgent. In addition to the NEM that will become the main module, according to Dmitry Rogozin, two permanent working modules named Nauca and Prichal may also become part of the Russian space station in the future, both modules will be sent to the ISS in the future. this year.