Turkey, Brazil, S. Africa show interest in joining Russian space station project - Roscosmos CEO
BAKU. Oct 3 (Interfax) - Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos has invited the Brazilian, Turkish, and South African space agencies to join the Russian space station project, and delegations from those countries have shown interest in it, Roscosmos CEO Yury Borisov said.
"Bilateral meetings and contacts within the framework of this forum have shown that interest in the Russian space industry and Russian achievements is very high. We have informed our counterparts about our plans for developing a Russian space station and continuing our piloted program. We've invited them to take part," Borisov told journalists on Tuesday.
"Our partners from Turkey, Brazil, and South Africa have shown genuine interest. We basically have good contacts with the countries belonging to BRICS," he said.
On October 2, Borisov said that cosmonauts from other countries will be able to visit and conduct experiments on the Russian space station, and that Roscosmos is ready to organize their pre-flight training.
On August 15, Russian space station chief designer Vladimir Kozhevnikov told Interfax that Russia could create an additional module for the station specifically for foreign partners.
"Foreign partners' participation could be varied: they can order a module that will be added to the station. The conceptual design does not include a module for foreign partners, but it implies that such module could be designed," Kozhevnikov said on the sidelines of the Army 2023 forum.
Russia is considering the construction of a new national space station as a replacement for the International Space Station. The first phase in the Russian space station project is planned for 2027-2030, and its construction will be completed in 2032.
On April 10, Borisov's first deputy Andrei Yelchaninov told Interfax that the Russian space station's construction was tentatively estimated at over 600 billion rubles. The exact sum will be known after preparing the sketch draft, he said.
On July 24, Borisov said that Russia could create a specialized module of the Russian space station for BRICS countries where they could conduct their own scientific studies. On August 14, his deputy for international cooperation, Sergei Savelyev, said the corporation had yet to hear from the BRICS countries invited to participate in the Russian space station project.