National Orbital Space Station
Russian Orbital Service Station

The new National Orbital Space Station [Natsionalnaya Orbital'naya Kosmicheskaya Stantsiya] (also - ROSS, Russian Orbital Service Station - this is exactly how its official name sounds) will consist of 3-7 modules with the possibility of a crew of 2 to 4 people. Russia is planning to stop using the International Space Station by 2028 and create a national space station instead given risks posed by ISS worn-out equipment, state space agency Roscosmos said on 31 July 2021. The corporation's Scientific and Technical Council held a meeting earlier in the day.

"After reviewing the current state of the Russian section of the ISS, the council of chief designers has noted that due to the significant part of the station's equipment getting old, further use of the Russian section of the ISS after 2024 poses additional risks," Roscosmos said in a statement. The Scientific and Technical Council recommended laying groundwork for construction of a new national space station [nova natsionalnaya cosmical stantsiya] "in order to avoid risks related to the technical condition of the Russian section of the ISS, and [due to] the plans to end its use by 2028," Roscosmos added.

On January 11, 2021, the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin said on a social network[ what? ] that the new orbital station is likely to be visited rather than habitable, as this will reduce its operating costs; constant presence can be justified only by constant loading of the station with tasks. According to Rogozin, the main tasks that will be solved at the orbital station are the assembly of complex flight modules, refueling of ships and their repair, testing the performance of new space systems and equipment in open space, controlling individual orbital groupings, and installing a payload, including including for remote sensing of the Earth, communication and relaying. Space tourism is possible at such a station, but within the scope of a separate module.

The scientific and energy module being created was previously planned to launch it in 2024 on the International Space Station (ISS). Meanwhile, Russia planned to conduct a technical survey of the ISS and make a decision to exit the project from 2025. This option was discussed at a meeting on space with the participation of Russian President Vladimir Putin on April 12. "Recently, more and more information has been received about technical malfunctions. In order to avoid any risks in case of emergency, it is necessary to conduct a technical inspection of the station. And based on the results, make a decision and honestly warn partners," ...

The Russian state corporation Roskosmos has begun construction of the first module of its own orbital station . "The first basic module for the new Russian orbital service station is already in operation. The Rocket and Space Corporation Energia has been tasked in 2025 to ensure its readiness for launch into the target orbit," the CEO of Roscosmos "Dmitry Rogozin wrote on social networks on 20 April 2021.

The new Russian space station will consist of six modules, said Vladimir Solovyov, deputy general designer of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation. As follows from the materials of his report at the scientific session of the general meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences, at the first stage the station will consist of four modules, in the future their number will be increased to six.

The first stage is planned to include the basic, scientific and energy, gateway and nodal modules. Then the target and target production modules are added to them. The station will also be equipped with a spacecraft service platform. The station's crew will be 2-4 people, the volume of pressurized compartments will be 667 cubic meters at the second stage. At the same time, the number of external jobs will reach 48. The cosmonauts will visit the station once or twice a year, and it is also planned to send up to three cargo ships to the station a year. According to the head of Roscosmos Dmitry Rogozin on Wednesday, the station is planned to be completed by 2030. The first module will be launched in 2025.

The base of the station will be a scientific and energy module, which will be specially modified. Previously it was planned to use it on the ISS. Rogozin said that about 80% of the equipment on the Russian segment of the ISS has reached its end of life and the cost of its maintenance after 2025 will be comparable to the cost of creating a new station. Roskosmos is ready to start building the station today and is awaiting relevant instructions from the government and the president. The new station will not be permanently inhabited, like the ISS, but will be visited due to the increased radiation hazard.

Russian Academy of Sciences President Alexander Sergeev noted that it is planned to use robots and artificial intelligence at the station. As the head of Roscosmos noted, after 2025, when Russia plans to start withdrawing from the ISS program, it is planned to transfer responsibility for the Russian segment of the ISS to its partners in the station, and negotiations are already underway with NASA. The option of commercial use of the segment is also being considered. At the same time, Rogozin did not rule out that international crews would visit the station, but stressed that the project would be Russian.

The Energia Corporation previously stated that an increase in the cost of maintaining the ISS after 2025 would make it more expedient to create a national space station. "The costs of further funding, which are estimated at 10-15 billion rubles, are too large. It is necessary to revise the terms of further participation in the program and focus on the implementation of programs for orbital stations," said Vladimir Solovyov, Deputy Director General of RSC, at a meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences on space in November 2020.

The National Orbital Space Station will be able to become an effective and promising project, provided that Russia does not have a break in the professional training of the crew. This was announced 24 July 2021 to FAN by the pilot-cosmonaut, Hero of the Russian Federation Alexander Skvortsov at the International Aviation and Space Salon MAKS-2021. Alexander Skvortsov is the 510th cosmonaut in the world and the 105th Russian cosmonaut. In 2011, he was awarded the title of Hero of the Russian Federation. He made two spacewalks with a total duration of 12 hours 34 minutes, and the total flight time exceeded 545 days. According to the cosmonaut, when assessing the prospects for the Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS), it is important to understand how this project will begin.

“We must take everything positive so that there is continuity, as was the case with the Mir station and the ISS,” the FAN interlocutor emphasized. - The tradition of flying into space should not be violated, experience should be passed on. I think one of the main tasks is for the Russian segment of the ISS to continue working until our national station takes off, so that we do not have a break in the professional training of cosmonauts. "