ISS successor: This is what the new Russian space station looks like

At the end of July 2022, the Russian space agency Roskosmos announced that it would withdraw from the ISS after 2024 and build its own space station instead. Now Russia has presented a model of its planned space station; Ironically, at a military fair near Moscow, as Reuters reports.

ROSS starts in two stages

The new space station will be referred to as “ROSS”. Roskosmos wants to start it in two phases, but does not give any specific dates. According to Reuters, Russian state media are said to be talking about a start between 2025/26 and 2030 for the first phase. The second phase should then take place between 2030 and 2035.

Space for a maximum of four cosmonauts

In the first phase, Roskosmos wants to put a space station with four modules into operation. Two cosmonauts should be able to live in it, with a volume of 228 cubic meters at their disposal, of which 19 cubic meters are occupied by scientific equipment. Two more modules and a service platform with a total volume of 667 cubic meters, of which 49 cubic meters for scientific equipment, will follow later. After completion, up to four cosmonauts and their scientific equipment will find space on “ROSS”.

The new station will give cosmonauts a much broader view of Earth than the current segment of the ISS, the Russians claim. Dmitry Rogozin, the ex-head of Roscosmos, had hinted that the new space station could serve a military purpose if necessary.

Not manned all the time

Unlike the ISS, the new Russian space station will apparently not be occupied by people all the time, but will only be manned twice a year for longer periods of time. Two energy modules are to supply the space station.

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