The International Space Station, which will be in operation until at least 2024, will undergo major changes in the future, said the head of Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, who expressed hope that the ISS will have modules for space tourists.
“Participants of the ISS project decided that the station will operate until 2024. However, most likely, this period will be extended further, and the space station, like a living organism, will evolve and acquire new modules, implying, accordingly, new functionality,”says Komarov.
The head of Roscosmos believes that in the future, with the development of space tourism, some part of the ISS will be devoted to astronauts-tourists. In addition, the station can turn into a space dock for the repair of orbiters and interplanetary ships.
“But the main purpose of the station's work is scientific and will remain so in the future. The priority area of research, as before, is the study of the effect of the absence of gravity on the human body. At the same time, thanks to emerging new technologies, space experiments do not stand still, differing in greater complexity and scope, added Igor Komarov.