Last July, in the midst of the Ukraine war, Russia announced its intentions to leave the International Space Station while promising to start building its own orbiting laboratory called ROSS . Now, at the Army 2022 defense event, the Kremlin has unveiled the first physical model of its latest ambitious space project.
The images shared on the Roscosmos Telegram channel show a model of the Russian orbital service station in its most complete version , that is, with the different modules that would make up this structure intended to house a maximum of four astronauts at a time for periods prolonged. Of course, unlike the ISS, it would not have a permanent human presence.
Russia wants to have its own space station again
Roscosmos has not said much more about ROSS in Army 2022, but the space agency, through state media, has been telling some details of the project. We know that Russia’s idea is to build its space station in different phases. It would begin to operate with four modules and would later be completed with another two and a service platform.
The new station will be created on the basis of modules that were originally intended to be attached to the ISS. This is being developed by RSC Energia, one of the most important players in the Russian space program and, although they still have a lot of work to do, they project that the first launch will take place between 2025 or 2026 .
As far as the development of space projects is concerned, with all the complexities that these involve, times can be dilated. Roscosmos, according to Reuters , is aware of this and has set a deadline for the first launch in 2030 . The next launches to complete the construction of ROSS are planned to take place between 2030 and 2035.
One of the most striking features of ROSS is that they expect it to be placed in a higher orbit than that of the ISS. This would give you the ability to visually cover virtually the entire world for various purposes. In fact, the previous director of Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, had suggested that the station could serve a military purpose if necessary.
Rogozin also said in 2021 , during a meeting of the Roscosmos Scientific and Technical Council, that ROSS could be used to boost space tourism projects. The next space tourists, he explained, instead of making suborbital flights like those offered by some Western companies, will be able to stay in orbit thanks to the space station .
The project is ambitious and it remains to be seen how it will evolve over time. A not insignificant challenge that Russia has ahead is to deal with the sanctions that prevent it from accessing key technologies for the manufacture of some components. However, it should be noted that it will not be the first space station to be launched from its borders.
In the times of the USSR, the Mir was launched into space, which was the first research space station to be permanently inhabited. It was expected to work for only 5 years, but its useful life was extended by more than a decade . Its construction began in 1986 and was completed in 1996. It finally fell in a controlled manner over the Pacific Ocean in March 2001 .
Regarding the International Space Station, although it has been in service for more than 23 years, we know that it will still have a useful life. NASA announced earlier this year that it would continue to operate the ISS until the end of 2030, after which they will make a controlled descent over the Pacific Ocean in 2031 .