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Russian space firm develops one-orbit scheme for spacecraft to reach orbital outpost

The new method of approaching the orbital outpost is expected to be more efficient for launches from spaceports whose latitude will be higher

MOSCOW, April 26. /TASS/. Russia’s Energia Space Rocket Corporation has developed a one-loop scheme for spacecraft to reach the International Space Station (ISS). The scheme may be implemented in two-three years, the Energia press office announced on Friday.

"In the opinion of Energia ballistics specialists, the one-orbit approach scheme can be implemented already in 2-3 years," the press office said.

As Energia stressed, this scheme will allow a spacecraft to reach the space station two hours after a carrier rocket’s blastoff from a cosmodrome. This will make it possible to cut the time of cosmonauts’ stay in a non-spacious spacecraft, deliver biomaterials to the ISS quicker and save fuel. The scheme’s implementation "will require compliance with some tight ballistic conditions with regard to the position of the spacecraft and the station," Energia specified.

In the future, this scheme may be implemented for flights to the Moon and for rescue operations in outer space. The new method of approaching the orbital outpost is expected to be more efficient for launches from spaceports whose latitude will be higher, Energia’s statement says.

"The higher the latitude of a spaceport for a launch, the more efficient this method’s use. For example, it will be possible to carry out launches based on the one-orbit scheme from the Vostochny spaceport in the Russian Far East without preliminary adjustments of the space station’s orbit and, ideally, even daily," the statement says.

In April, a Progress MS-11 resupply ship set a record by the time of its flight to the ISS. It took the cargo spacecraft 3 hours and 21 minutes to reach the orbital outpost. The resupply ship made two rotations around Earth.