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Russia’s independent space program is proceeding at full speed, despite corruption scandals and international turmoil, Russian President Vladimir Putin told space industry officials Thursday in a televised meeting.
Putin said the first module of Russia’s new orbital platform – arguably another sign of the new, darker, less cooperative era in space that is set to follow the end of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2030 – should be launched in 2027.
“With the International Space Station running out of resources, we need not just one part, but the entire station to be put into service,” Putin said.
The Russian President also pledged to continue the country’s lunar program despite the disastrous landing of the Russian Luna-25 spacecraft last August on the moon’s south pole.
“It’s unfortunate… it’s a negative experience,” Putin said. “But it will be used in the future to avoid any errors.”
Since its establishment in 1988, the International Space Station has served as a model for international scientific cooperation between the United States, Europe, Russia and others.
But Moscow’s current plans to continue its involvement in the now 25-year-old International Space Station until 2028, Putin said, were only a temporary measure.
Putin told space industry officials on Thursday that the first module of Russia’s new orbital space station — a sign of a new, darker, less cooperative era in space set to follow the end of the International Space Station (ISS) in 2030 — will launch in 2027. Televised meeting
The Russian President also pledged to continue the country’s lunar program despite the disastrous landing of the Russian Luna-25 spacecraft last August on the moon’s south pole. “It is a negative experience,” Putin said. “But it will be used in the future to avoid any errors.”
Putin said Moscow’s current plans to continue its participation in the now 25-year-old International Space Station until 2028 are only a temporary measure. Above, Putin at a space meeting on Thursday
Yuri Borisov, head of the Russian space agency Roscosmos, supported Putin’s position as a way to preserve the country’s human spaceflight capabilities.
Russian agencies quoted him as telling reporters: “The International Space Station has become obsolete and will end.”
“If we do not start large-scale work on creating a Russian orbital station in 2024, it is very likely that we will lose our capacity due to the time gap,” Borisov continued.
“The International Space Station will no longer be there and the Russian station will not be ready.”
In the televised meeting on Thursday, Putin stressed that the new station should “take into account all advanced achievements in science and technology and have the ability to carry out the tasks of the future.”
He said development of the new space station would continue “in due course.”
Just over a year ago, Russian space agency Roscosmos showed off a model of the country’s planned new space station — above — which will consist of four modules in its first stage
The planned Russian space station will eventually expand to include six modules and a service platform, once it fully departs from the International Space Station, the country said. But unlike the International Space Station, the orbiting platform is not designed to be continuously crewed. Astronauts will only stay for two periods each year
In his statements yesterday, Putin explained that he was fully aware of the technical accidents that led to the crash landing of the Luna-25 spacecraft in August on the south pole of the moon.
The accident, which occurred during pre-lunar landing maneuvers, highlighted financing problems, corruption scandals and other setbacks that have hampered the space program that was once a source of pride for the country.
Mikhail Marov, 90, a top astronomer who was a key advisor on the failed spaceflight, was taken to hospital after the Luna 25 crash, where he suffered a “severe deterioration” in his health.
Marov’s health condition emerged after he called for an investigation into the failure of the mission, the first Russian moon probe in 47 years.
“We will, of course, work on this. The lunar program will continue,” Putin said. “There are no plans to close it.”
The Russian president added: “Mistakes happen.” “This is a complex activity.”
Putin also advised the assembled space experts to resolve issues related to salaries, which he implied were too low in the Russian space industry, in an attempt to attract foreign space professionals – as well as spark new interest from the private sector.
Putin also advised the assembled space experts to resolve issues related to salaries, which he implied were too low in the Russian space industry, in an attempt to attract foreign space specialists – as well as spark new interest from the private sector.
But, while Roscosmos head Borisov said the next moon launch may be brought forward to 2026 instead of 2027 as now planned, the new space base still stands. The main priority of the space agency.
Interfax, citing an unnamed industry source, reported that the new Russian space station will cost $6 billion. When completed, the base will be able to accommodate up to four astronauts and scientific equipment.
Putin said: “The goal is to have no gaps, so that the work can keep pace with the depletion of the International Space Station’s resources.”
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