Foreign astronauts will be able to visit new Russian space station - Roscosmos head

BAKU. Oct 2 (Interfax) - Astronauts from other countries will be able to visit the future Russian space station, and Roscosmos also stands ready to arrange their training for such flights, Roscosmos General Director Yury Borisov said.

"In this project [to build the Russian space station], we are open to international cooperation [in organizing] astronauts' visits and training," Borisov said at a meeting of space agency heads on the sidelines of the International Astronautical Congress in Baku.

Foreign partners will also be ready to conduct their scientific experiments aboard the Russian space station, he said.

"The station will have a high power supply capacity, which will make it possible to organize various experiments, test new technologies, develop new materials and medications, and will operate as a permanently functioning laboratory for testing space technologies," Borisov said.

Russia has been considering building a new space station of its own, which will replace the International Space Station. The first stage of building the Russian space station is scheduled for 2027-2030. Construction is expected to be completed in 2032.

Roscosmos estimates the construction of the future space station at over 600 billion rubles, Roscosmos First Deputy General Director Andrei Yelchaninov said in an interview with Interfax on April 10. The exact sum would be known when the preliminary design is completed, he said.

Borisov said on July 24 that Russia had invited other BRICS countries to help build a separate specialized module for its planned new space station, where BRICS member states could conduct scientific experiments. Roscosmos Deputy General Director for International Cooperation Sergei Savelyev said on August 14 that the space corporation had yet to receive any reply from the countries invited to join the Russian space station project.