First module of new Russian space station may be launched in 2028 - RSC Energia

MOSCOW. July 26 (Interfax) - The first module of a promising Russian space station may be launched into orbit by the Angara-A5M launch vehicle in 2028, General Designer of the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation Vladimir Solovyov said.

"If the decision to build it [a space station] is made before the end of the year, the first stage will begin in 2028 with the launch of the Research and Power Module by the Angara-A5M carrier rocket... The interlinked node and airlock modules will be launched by the Angara-A5M launch vehicle from the Vostochny [Cosmodrome]," Solovyov said in an interview with the Russian Space magazine, an official publication of the Roscosmos state corporation.

The module will have to be "retrofitted with various systems, including a gyrodyne block, to be able to use it for several years as the main module," he said.

After that, a basic unit should arrive at the station, making it possible for the station to have four cabins and two toilets, Solovyov said. The weight of the station at the first stage will reach 55 tonnes, with a pressurized volume of about 217 cubic meters.

The second phase of construction of the station is planned to begin in 2030, Solovyov said. A target module and a target production module, and a platform for servicing spacecraft will be connected to the station.

"By the end of the second stage, the weight of the station will reach about 122 tonnes and its pressurized volume - 505 cubic meters, and by these indicators it will largely exceed the Russian ISS segment," the designer noted.