Russia plans to launch its own space station after ISS strikes

The International Space Station (ISS), photographed by crew members of Expedition 56 of a Soyuz spacecraft after decoupling, 4 October 2018. NASA / Roscosmos / Handout via REUTERS

Russia is ready to build its own space station with the aim of putting it into orbit in 2030 if President Vladimir Putin gives the go-ahead, the head of his Roscosmos space agency said on Wednesday.

The project would be a new chapter in Russia’s space exploration and an end to more than two decades of close cooperation with the United States aboard the aging International Space Station (ISS).

“If we can put it in orbit by 2030 according to our plans, it will be a huge breakthrough,” said Interfax news agency Dmitry Rogozin, head of Roscosmos. “The will is there to take a new step in the world spaceflight crew.”

Russian cosmonauts have been working with counterparts from the United States and 16 other countries on the ISS since 1998 – one of the closest areas of cooperation between Moscow and Washington, whose relations are currently in a serious crisis over human rights, cyberattacks and a range of other issues.

Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov told Russian TV over the weekend that Moscow will notify its partners that they will be leaving the ISS project from 2025.

Rogozin said that the Russian station, unlike the ISS, would probably not be permanently manned because the orbit would expose it to higher radiation.

But astronauts would visit it and it would also use artificial intelligence and robots.

He said Russia was willing to consider allowing foreign crews to visit, “but the station must be national … If you want to do well, do it yourself.”

Interfax quoted an unnamed source as saying that Russia planned to spend up to $ 6 billion to launch the project.

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