The heads of the space agencies of Russia and the United States have agreed to create a Deep Space Gateway station in the orbit of the Moon, Igor Komarov, Director General of Roscosmos, told reporters at the International Astronautical Congress in Australia.
“We have agreed that we will jointly participate in the project to create a new international circumnavigation station Deep Space Gateway. At the first stage, we will build an orbital part with the further prospect of using proven technologies on the surface of the Moon, and later on Mars. The conclusion of the first modules is possible in 2024-2026,”Komarov said.
According to him, the parties preliminary discussed the contributions of the participating countries. “Our contribution can be the creation of one to three modules and standards of a unified docking mechanism for all ships that will dock to the station. In addition, Russia intends to use a super-heavy launch vehicle that is currently being created to launch structures into a circumlunar orbit,”Komarov said. At the same time, the director of Roskosmos for manned programs, Sergei Krikalev, noted that in addition to the airlock module, Russia could also develop a residential one for the new station.
Komarov stressed that the participants will discuss the technological contribution of the countries and the financial component of the project at the next stage of the negotiations. “We have now signed a joint statement of intent to work on the project of a lunar station, and in the future - to study missions on the surface of the Moon and Mars. The agreement itself requires a serious study at the state level, - said Komarov.
Participation in the project of the BRICS countries was also approved. “They took into account our initiative to expand the number of countries that can take part in the discussion of this project. It has been determined that China, India and other BRICS countries will take part in the joint work on the lunar station,”said the head of Roscosmos.
Main partners
In June this year, Komarov told reporters that Russia plans to become the main partner in the creation of a lunar station along with NASA and ESA.
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At the same time, RSC Energia General Director Vladimir Solntsev told reporters that as a contribution to the project, the corporation proposes to create for Deep Space Gateway an airlock for space walks, an apparatus for descent to the lunar surface and a ship for delivering crews to the Moon (version of the ship "Federation").
At the same time Solntsev told TASS that RSC Energia and the American corporation Boeing Defense, Space & Security intend to sign a detailed agreement on cooperation in the field of deep space exploration in the near future.
Technical standards
Komarov added that the world's leading space agencies are unifying the standards for spacecraft and systems for creating a lunar station.
“At least five world space agencies are working on the creation of their own ships and systems. To avoid problems in the future in matters of technical interaction, some of the standards should be unified so that different countries can work on their products and dock to the international lunar station, Komarov said, adding that some of the key standards will be formed on the basis of Russian developments.
“Practically decisions have been made on the standards of the docking station, it [the standard] is in a serious state of readiness. Taking into account the number of connections that we have carried out, the experience that we have, there is no equal to Russia in this direction. Therefore, this standard will be as close as possible to the Russian one. Also, on the basis of Russian developments, a standard for life support systems will be developed, "Komarov said.
He assured that "this will open up new opportunities for using the capacities of our industry." “The most serious developments are at RSC Energia. We hope that this enterprise will play a significant role in unifying world standards,”Komarov said.
According to him, "it is assumed that the standards will be used by all countries voluntarily in order to further participate in all international space projects." At the same time, the executive director of Roscosmos for manned programs, Sergei Krikalev, explained that the docking standards will contain uniform requirements for the dimensions of the docking station parts. “The most elaborated option is the gateway module; the dimensions of the residential module elements can also be unified. As for the carriers, the new elements can be displayed both on American SLS launch vehicles and on the Russian Proton or Angara,”said Krikalev.
Deep Space Gateway Project
The plans to create a lunar station became known in the spring of 2016. Then TASS, referring to the documents of RSC Energia, reported that, together with the American corporation Boeing, a preliminary study is under way to create a circumlunar infrastructure in support of future plans of national agencies.
The project of the lunar orbital station was worked out in two versions: on the basis of two small residential modules or one large one. Both concepts call for four people to work at the station. The duration of the expeditions will be from 30 to 360 days. Flights to the station will be carried out once a year.
Also, two variants of station placement are being considered: in a highly elliptical orbit and in a low orbit about 100 km above the lunar surface. The first can be used to launch ships into deep space, the second - for expeditions to the surface of an Earth satellite.
Earlier, RSC Energia proposed to start creating a circumlunar orbital platform at the end of 2022, and in the first half of 2025 to send the first crew to it.
According to NASA's plans, which had previously appeared in open sources, the first module (Power and Propulsion Bus, Electro-propulsion module) was planned to be sent to a circumlunar orbit in 2023. In 2024-2025, two residential modules were to be added to it. The launch of the modules is supposed to be carried out with the help of the American super-heavy carrier rocket SLS, and the delivery of the crews - on the Orion spacecraft. It is also planned to create a transport supply ship.
