MOSCOW, February 13. /TASS/. Robots, virtual and augmented reality will help cosmonauts carry out their work at the future Russian Orbital Station (ROS), Deputy Chief Designer of the Energia Space Rocket Corporation (part of the State Space Corporation Roscosmos), ROS Chief Designer Vladimir Kozhevnikov told TASS on Monday.
"In order to ease the work of humans in orbit, robotic vehicles will be created aboard the ROS and there are plans to use virtual and augmented reality technologies," he said.
ROS to accommodate more scientific payload
Russia’s future orbital outpost will have more room for accommodating scientific payload compared to the Russian segment on the International Space Station (ISS), Kozhevnikov said.
"As compared to the ISS Russian segment, the number of workplaces for connecting specific equipment will be multiply increased. We will get a far greater number of spots for accommodating various scientific and applied apparatus for conducting experiments and specific work," he elaborated.
The new Russian orbital outpost will serve as a site for testing new and improving existing space technologies. In particular, this effort will embrace communications technologies, and materials and components production, he explained.
ROS to get multi-layered meteoroid, debris protection
Russia’s future orbital station will use special shielding against micrometeoroids and space debris, the ROS chief designer said.
"The ROS shielding against micrometeoroids and space debris will not differ considerably from the ISS protection. The ROS modules will be ‘clad’ in some sort of multilayered ‘armor’ - meteoroid shields," Kozhevnikov explained.
The ROS will also have the ability to perform maneuvers for avoiding collision with space debris similar to what is used on the ISS. These avoidance maneuvers will be carried out with the help of ROS thrusters and the propulsion systems of docked spacecraft, he said.
"The ROS will be protected against hits by particles of up to 1 cm in size flying at a velocity of 10 km/s," the chief designer said.
Russia’s new orbital station will feature special shielded areas for the cosmonauts’ stay. A specialized radiation control system will manage the atmosphere aboard the new orbital station, he elaborated.
Russia to deploy five new space modules in 2027-2030
Russia will launch the research/energy module of its future orbital station in 2027 and four more modules in 2028-2030, the ROS chief designer said.
"As of now, we plan to launch the first research/energy module at the end of 2027 and the nodal, gateway, basic and special-purpose modules in 2028-2030," Kozhevnikov said.
The timeframe of deploying Russia’s future orbital station will depend on the results of conceptual designing, which will be completed this year, the ROS chief designer said.
"The work on the research/energy module has been launched in full after some pause. The ROS conceptual design stipulates requirements for its fine-tuning that will be implemented beginning from 2024. The research/energy module is set to be delivered into the ROS orbit by an Angara-5M rocket," he explained.
Russia’s new orbital station will practically have an unlimited service life, the ROS chief designer said.
"The offered project stipulates the possibility of replacing spent modules. This will help both keep the station operational and maintain its technical and technological condition at a modern level," he elaborated.
Space crews will travel to Russia’s new orbital station aboard next-generation spacecraft that will be launched from the Vostochny spaceport in Russia’s Far East. This will help implement the "new station-new spacecraft-new spaceport" concept, he said.
In April 2021, then-Deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov said that the condition of the International Space Station left much to be desired and Russia might focus on creating its own orbital outpost. Work on the future orbital station’s conceptual design is currently underway.
Deputy Prime Minister, Industry and Trade Minister Denis Manturov said in October last year that Russia had already determined the preliminary cost of its future orbital station.