A model of a Russian orbital space station (Credits: EPA)
Russian space officials have shown a model of the country’s proposed space station for the first time.
After the international resistance to the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has announced that it will withdraw from the International Space Station “after 2024”.
Instead, it will build and launch its own station — dubbed the Russian Orbital Space Station (ROSS) — once its commitments to NASA and the ISS are completed.
Unveiled at a military forum, the model shows the layout of the station – which is likely to be built in 2028 at the earliest.
According to Russian state media, the model assumed that the base, science and energy, nodal and gateway modules, along with targeting and production modules were already in orbit.
The model was on display at the Army-2022 International Military and Technical Forum in Kubinka (Credits: EPA)
Meanwhile, Russian-made modules are a crucial part of the 400-ton ISS. Roscosmos, the Russian space agency, operates six of the ISS’s 17 modules, including the Zvezda module that houses the main engine.
leaves the ISS and plunges it into the Earth.
Russian-made modules are a critical part of the 400-ton space station, as Roscosmos serves six of the orbital lab’s 17 modules, including Zvezda, which houses the main engine system.
Could the ISS function without Russia?
While the US has spacecraft that can correct orbit if Russia leaves the ISS, it’s not that simple.
Joanne Gabrynowicz, a professor specializing in space law, told news site Quartz that the agreements related to the ISS require that a partner wishing to leave must obtain the consent of the other partners.
The International Space Station as seen from the US space shuttle Atlantis on Feb. 18, 2008 (Credit: Getty)
“You just can’t grab your football and go home,” says Gabrynowicz.
“If the Russians simply say ‘we leave’, it could lead to legal and diplomatic action, but the question of the technicalities, the integrity of the station, the viability, the sustainability, will have to be addressed by the remaining partner.”
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