The International Space Station (ISS) photographed by crew members of Expedition 56 of a Soyuz spacecraft after decommissioning, October 4, 2018. NASA / Roscosmos / Handout via REUTERS
Russia is ready to begin building its own space station with the aim of launching it into orbit in 2030 if President Vladimir Putin gives his approval, the head of his space agency Roscosmos said on Wednesday.
The project would mark a new chapter in Russian space exploration and the end of more than two decades of close cooperation with the United States aboard the aging International Space Station (ISS).
“If in 2030, according to our plans, we can put it into orbit, it will be a colossal breakthrough,” Interfax news agency quoted Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin as saying. “There is a will to take a new step in global manned space exploration.”
Russian cosmonauts have been working with counterparts in the United States and 16 other countries on the ISS since 1998, one of the closest fields of cooperation between Moscow and Washington, whose relations are in deep crisis over human rights, cyberattacks and other issues. .
Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russian television over the weekend that Moscow would warn its partners that it would leave the ISS project from 2025.
Rogozin said the Russian station, unlike the ISS, would probably not be permanently equipped because its orbital trajectory would expose it to higher radiation.
But cosmonauts would visit him and also use artificial intelligence and robots.
He said Russia was prepared to consider visiting foreign teams, “but the station must be national … If you want to do well, do it yourself.”
Interfax quoted an unnamed source as saying Russia planned to spend up to $ 6 billion to launch the project.
Our standards: the principles of trust of Thomson Reuters.