The “home stretch” for the ISS, which has almost reached its deadline, is being discussed these days at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress in Dubai. The head of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, put forward his proposals on its future fate, or rather, preserving the ability for Russia to remain in orbit after the termination of the Russian segment. He spoke about them during an online briefing on Tuesday.
“In fact, we are on the verge of important events,” said Dmitry Rogozin. – On the one hand, the finish line for the ISS … The Americans say they intend to work on it until the 30th year (which is hard to believe). I answered them that the term of service should be determined by specialists, not politicians. In addition, a light began to dawn around the new station. What should she be? <...> We are now talking about the Russian orbital service station ROSS. Maybe it will become a prototype for a new ISS with broad international participation.
Recall that not so long ago, our State Corporation did not rule out the continuation of work on the ISS until 2030, if our American partners agree with this … Now the American partners are expressing their readiness, and ours – “believe with difficulty.” The fact is that since the end of 2020 the situation has changed radically. The service module “Zvezda” began literally to burst at the seams. Experts understood from these cracks that the metal, which had served for more than 20 years, was still tired. Plus – equipment began to fail gradually, up to 80 (!) Percent of which needs to be replaced. Does it make sense to constantly patch holes and wait for some serious emergency in orbit? Or is it better to gradually phase out the work of the old segment and deploy a new station? “It is more expedient to deploy a new station,” the scientists said. In addition, not in the orbit in which the ISS is currently flying (51.6 degrees), but in the one that is more profitable for Russia, that is, 97-98 degrees, in order to better observe the territory of our country, including the Arctic region, from it. General designer of RSC Energia Vladimir Soloviev spoke about this not so long ago to journalists.
And now – throwing again? We hear that Roskosmos is already ready to abandon an exclusively national station and again organize an international project?
So at what stage is the ROSS station project now? Can ROSS, if it is conceived as a national station, in the interests of our country, be of interest to some other state? We asked for an answer to these questions. Head of the Institute of Space Policy Ivan Moiseev.
– In April of this year, there was a meeting with the president, at which the president agreed to heat the Russian segment by 2025 and build a new station. But the situation is still suspended, money has not been allocated to finance the new station, – says Ivan Moiseev. – It looks like there is a desire again to “pull” the station (the Russian segment of the ISS) for the 25th year. In general, let’s wait until the end of the year. By this time, there may be a response from the government, where in the summer Roskosmos submitted a proposal for ROSS for approval.
– In this sentence, the appearance of the station, the inclination is spelled out?
– Alas, the project is without any specific details. I think they (the developers of the project) do not even quite imagine where they want to create this station. But the difference is great. You can build it in the same orbit in which the ISS is currently flying. To do this, we just have to undock our newly arrived module “Science” and dock new modules to it. According to this principle, the Mir station was created, to which we re-docked modules from the Salyut-7 station. If we decide to create a station in a new, advantageous orbit for us, then the “Science” module will no longer be able to be dragged there, it will have to be drowned. That is, even this fundamental issue has not yet been resolved, but time is passing.
– Rogozin announced the possibility of creating an international project again.
– It’s always easier to put together something big. Perhaps Roscosmos hopes that the Americans will again help us with financing our segment, as it was during the construction of the ISS. Only that story is unlikely to be repeated now. Americans are no longer interested in this.
– What is the budget required for the construction of the ISS?
– Approximately $ 150 billion. Our country spent only 10% of the total cost. I repeat, now this will no longer be the case. If we decide to build a new station, we will have to allocate sufficient funding for its creation, as well as funding for the Russian segment of the ISS still operating until the 25th year. The sums will be needed are not small.
In the space industry, we were also expressed doubts about the fact that some of the foreigners would be interested in a conglomeration with Russia on an orbital station. China already has its own station, which they will be doing alone for the next 20 years. The Americans, having worked on their segment of the ISS until the age of 30 or until the 28th year, will “leave” for the lunar orbital station, for which more specific solutions already exist. Therefore, we have only one way – to start making our station on our own, without looking back at the ghostly “partners”. The main thing, of course, is that the government is imbued with this idea and nevertheless approves the project.
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