Roscosmos: High-latitude orbital station may become lunar expeditions' base
MOSCOW. Dec 16 (Interfax-AVN) - The Federal Space Agency (Roscosmos) is considering the construction of a high-latitude multirole orbital station, Roscosmos chief Oleg Ostapenko said on Monday.
"We are considering the possible construction of a high-latitude station from which 90% of the Russian territory will be visible. It may become a base for prospective lunar expeditions," Ostapenko said.
"The high-latitude space station will fully control [Arctic] latitudes. This issue will not be neglected, not only in the context of the high-latitude station but in other contexts as well. It will be part of the federal space program," he continued.
As to whether the plans of building a Russian high-latitude orbital station were related to the Western sanctions and problems in the International Space Station (ISS) project, the Roscosmos chief said, "You may either link this to the sanctions or not. In the end, we are totally self-sufficient and capable of missions in various [outer] space segments, including the creation of a high-latitude orbital station."
The Russian high-latitude orbital station may be used in several ways, for instance, as a man-visited space station, an inhabited station and a multirole spacecraft solving concrete tasks, he said.
In his words, the station will be "a step forward" compared to the ISS.
"It would be pointless to make a replica," he remarked.
Earlier reports said that Russia might build its own space station no earlier than in 2025 in the case of its secession from the ISS project in 2020 and on the condition of availability of engineering and financial resources.
