MOSCOW, July 2. /TASS/. Russia’s State Space Corporation Roscosmos Head Yury Borisov approved a general schedule for creating the Russian Orbital Station (ROS) through 2033, the space agency’s press office reported on Tuesday.

"Yury Borisov has approved a general schedule of creating the Russian Orbital Station. The document was also signed by 19 chief executives of the corporation’s enterprises," the press office said in a statement.

Russia is set to launch the future orbital outpost’s first research and energy module in 2027, Roscosmos said.

Roscosmos also plans to launch the universal nodal, gateway and baseline modules by 2030 to form the core orbital station together with the research and energy module, it said.

"At the second stage, from 2031 to 2033, the station is set to expand by docking two special-purpose modules (TsM1 and TsM2)," Roscosmos said.

The project is estimated at 608.9 billion rubles (about $6.98 billion).

In addition, Roscosmos signed contracts on July 2 on carrying out R&D work on creating the orbital outpost’s space segment and a system with next-generation manned spacecraft and an Angara heavy carrier rocket to service it.

The approved general schedule of creating the ROS envisages the new spacecraft’s flight tests, the creation of carrier rockets and ground infrastructure facilities and work by the space industry’s research institutes to provide support for the project.

Russian Orbital Station

The idea of creating Russia’s national orbital station was first outlined in April 2021. In October last year, Roscosmos Chief Borisov said that the station was estimated at 609 billion rubles until 2032, of which 150 billion rubles (about $1.7 billion) were intended to be spent in the first three years. The Roscosmos head said that the project was open for international cooperation and Russia had offered African countries and BRICS member states to participate in the station’s creation.

The ROS creation will help continue Russia’s human spaceflight program, considering its exit from the project of the International Space Station (ISS), address the tasks of scientific-technical development, the national economy and state security that cannot be implemented on the ISS due to technological restrictions and international agreements. The Russian Orbital Station will help raise the competitive edge of Russian manned space systems and practice advanced space technologies.