The Russian Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) has revealed plans to build an orbiting outpost and land cosmonauts on the moon once the International Space Station (ISS) is mothballed in the next decade.
In an official statement, Roscosmos pledged its support for the ISS until 2024, but outlined plans to disconnect its modules soon after and use them to build a Russian space station in its place.
The creation of a national space station would ensure that Russia has a base to fly cosmonauts to until it has developed its more ambitious plans to send crews on orbiting missions around the moon and land them on its surface by 2030.
Since NASA retired its fleet of space shuttles, the Russians have been the only nation able to ferry humans to and from the ISS aboard its Soyuz rockets.
The Russians’ commitment to the ISS was welcomed by some experts, including Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield, who has served aboard the ISS.
“This is excellent news, especially when read between the rhetoric. ISS is a key global symbol,” he tweeted.
Other nations involved in the ISS, including Canada and Japan and many in Europe, have yet to give similar assurances that they would keep funding the space station beyond 2020.
Moscow had threatened to pull out by that point, but the economic crisis, driven by low oil prices and Western sanctions over Ukraine, have stymied those plans.
Despite the enthusiasm over Moscow’s decision to extend its support, the plans outlined by Roscosmos for a national space station and human missions to the moon suggest that Russia is poised to break away from its international partners in space exploration.
Russia’s ambitions to land cosmonauts on the moon puts their plans in line with those of China, which already has its Jade Rabbit rover on the lunar surface.
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