For several years now, in discussing plans for its human spaceflight program beyond the International Space Station, Russian officials would proudly bring up the Russian Orbital Station, or ROS.
The first elements of ROS were to launch in 2027 so it would be ready for human habitation in 2028. Upon completion in the mid-2030s, the station would encompass seven shiny new modules, potentially including a private habitat for space tourists. It would be so sophisticated that the station could fly autonomously for months if needed.
Importantly, the Russian station was also to fly in a polar orbit at about 400 km. This would allow the station to fly over the entirety of Russia, observing the whole country. It would be important for national pride because cosmonauts would not need to launch from Kazakhstan anymore. Rather, rockets launching from the country’s new spaceport in eastern Russia, the Vostochny Cosmodrome, would easily reach the ROS in its polar orbit.
That was the plan, at least until this week, when a Russian official dropped a bombshell.
Recycling the ISS
Oleg Orlov, director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said ROS will no longer be composed of entirely new modules. Rather, its core will be the Russian segment of the International Space Station.
“The Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos supported this proposal and approved the deployment of a Russian orbital station as part of the Russian segment of the ISS,” Orlov reportedly said.
For now Russia doesn’t even have a suitable launch pad for their rockets!
Their last functional pad collapsed with the rocket they launched last month.Russia is collapsing just like that launchpad did, and this will never go anywhere.
Would that be the station core that’s cracking, leaking, seemingly getting worse, and which they haven’t been able to fix?
All spaceframes have a limited service life due to the extreme thermal and structural load cycling they experience in earth orbit. The ISS was only meant to last 15 years and its only by happenstance, new modules, and good engineering protocols that its been stretched to 2030.
The alloys of aluminum that make up most of their structure always have a limited load cycle service life. It is never a question of if it will crack, it is when. Reusing ANY part of it for a space station meant to be serviced past 2030 is just a ticking time bomb. Russia is gonna kill their cosmonauts for sure.Again (allegedly)
Yep, still sounds like Russia’s new space station.
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Makes me think of the Orbital Drop from Red Alert 3’s Soviet teamIt’s just dropping satellites at units? 🤣🤣
It goes in three tiers. First just a satellite (Sputnik), then that and some space junk, then third tier is a whole ass space station (Mir)
Wonder if it’s because they’re running out of money
Why buy new space station when old one station still works? Why develop new shuttle, just strap 2 rockets to my uncle’s 1986 moskwitsch!
So they won’t be using the Baikonur Cosmodrome?
“On 27 November 2025, one of the cosmodrome’s launchpads sustained significant damage following the launch of the Soyuz MS-28 rocket carrying three astronauts to the International Space Station.[27]” from Wikipedia
Please don’t set the orbit path over my home for when it inevitably starts falling apart.
if they reuse ISS parts, the orbit will stay mostly the same as today. Delta V for orbit changes is a bitch.
The bits of the ISS that keep springing leaks?
Well, if it works on the Ukraine front, why not in space? Oh, wait…
Slavs…
