SAMARA, April 23. /TASS/. The first module of a new Russian orbital station will be launched in late 2025, Roscosmos Chief Dmitry Rogozin said on Friday.

"We are planning to deploy the first basic unit in late 2025. It is understandable that what we have now is insufficient and it will be necessary to make an additional nodal module, an extra small module for the station’s orientation. These are understandable operations that engineers have mapped out. If we take extra efforts, we will do that by the end of 2025," the Roscosmos head said.

As the Roscosmos press office specified for TASS, the head of the Russian space agency spoke about the launch of a research and power module that was initially intended for the International Space Station.

The Roscosmos head said on April 20 that Russia’s Energia Space Rocket Corporation had been assigned the task of making the first basic module for a new Russian orbital station ready in 2025. Work on it is already underway, he said. Rogozin also posted a video of the first module under construction: this will be a research and power unit that was previously intended for its launch to the International Space Station in 2024.

Russian Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov’s office announced on April 18 that the space station’s condition left much to be desired. In order to avoid any risks in case of accidents, it was necessary to carry out a technical inspection of the station. After this, a decision should be made on the orbital outpost’s further operation. Also, Borisov said in an interview with the 'Moscow. Kremlin. Putin' program on the Rossiya-1 TV channel that Russia might quit the ISS project in 2025.