Independence in space, primarily from the whims of partner countries - this is the main thing that a high-latitude orbital station will give Russia. The first news about its construction was leaked to the press two years ago, but the official statement of the head of Roscosmos Oleg Ostapenko was made only today.
Western sanctions, say the designers, played an important role in this. The United States and Europe have limited the supply of electronics for our satellites and missiles; now they are being replaced with domestic equipment.
“We are considering the option of creating a high-latitude station, from which it will be possible to observe 90 percent of the territory of Russia. It can become a base for future lunar expeditions,”said Oleg Ostapenko, head of Roscosmos.
Not only our country wants not to depend on partners. China, for example, is also working on its own orbital module. When geopolitics invades even science, this is the only chance to stay in the lead.
“All technologies exist in Russia. And, naturally, it is possible to create such a station. There are now modules for the space station and are being made now, says Igor Burenkov, director of the information policy and media department of the United Rocket and Space Corporation.
The new Russian station will be raised much higher than the ISS. From it it will be possible to view the entire territory of Russia at once. The station will improve the quality of navigation signals, open up new opportunities for scientific research, including the program for studying the surface of the moon.
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“The station is needed to work out technologies in space, to develop new designs, so that if we still think about flying to the moon, so that the blocks of the corresponding devices were previously worked out at this station,” explained the functions of the future station, head of the Institute of Space Policy Ivan Moiseev …
A new station will be built no earlier than 2025. But even then, the cosmonauts say, Russia will hardly leave all international programs. To gain independence in orbit does not mean to completely abandon the ISS. There are a number of projects, such as the conquest of Mars, where working together is both cheaper and faster.
“We are simply interdependent. For example, today the delivery of crews is carried out only by our ships. Our ships are now hanging like rescue ships. But as far as the orientation of the station is concerned, only the Americans have large, powerful heradines (systems supporting the orientation of the station),”said cosmonaut, hero of the Russian Federation Gennady Padalka.
Independent space programs of our country will not be limited to the construction of a new orbital module. In the center of Khrunichev, a plan of the century is being developed - the creation of a lunar base, in fact, a Russian colony on the Earth's satellite, as well as cargo lunar ships. Their components, most likely, will be assembled at the new orbital station.