KOROLEV /Moscow Region/, October 27. /TASS/. Instructions to approve the federal project to build the Russian Orbital Station have been issued after a meeting on the development of the Russian space industry chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, the head of Russia’s state-run space corporation Roscosmos said.
"Instructions have been given to approve the federal project on manned spaceflights. In essence, it means that the project to create the Russian Orbital Station has been approved. Funds have been allocated. Main parameters have been determined," Yuri Borisov told reporters after the meeting.
Borisov went on to say that ensuring the continuity of Russia’s manned spaceflights was a "pressing task."
He reiterated that the International Space Station is to be scrapped by 2030, and there was a risk of a situation when "the ISS is no longer there, and the Russian station is not yet there."
"That is why we should synchronize the process and start working on this difficult, resource-intensive and costly project no later than in 2024," Borisov said.
The project’s chief designer Vladimir Kozhevnikov told TASS in February that the first module - the scientific and energy module - is planned for late 2027. In his words, the node, gateway, base and purpose-oriented modules are planned for launch between 2028 and 2030.
Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a meeting with young scientists and space industry specialists on Thursday that the first module of Russia’s new space station may be orbited in 2027.