posted 01-13-2015 12:08 PM               

"A possibility of creating a new Russian space station does exist in principle. Such project may be implemented in international cooperation, with China for example. But neither the current, nor the draft of a future federal space programme have such provisions. Such project can be linked with the lifecycle of the International Space Station," he said.

posted 01-13-2015 04:54 PM               

The fact is that global politics are in such flux these days that their opinion of working with the U.S. is probably subject to the mood of the country's leadership. The "recent media reports" are very indicative of this.

posted 01-13-2015 06:28 PM               

Many, if not most of the media reports suggesting Russia had plans for its own space station trace back to the Kommersant newspaper, which cited an unnamed "engineering source." The original article was translated into English by other Russian publications, which was then paraphrased by Western media outfits, and, as they say, we were off to the races.

Roscosmos has a history of floating ideas to the media as trial balloons, so that may have been what happened here. Or it may have simply been a poorly sourced story. Either way, it doesn't require a change in politics to explain the dialing back of the news now.

posted 02-24-2015 08:17 PM               

A statement posted to the Russian space agency's website said a meeting of the Roscosmos science and technical council considered Russia's future human spaceflight plans, favoring the continued use of the International Space Station until 2024.

Then Russia plans to remove its modules from the International Space Station to form an all-Russian complex in orbit.

The statement said "a configuration of a multi-purpose laboratory module, a (docking) node module, and a scientific power module creates a promising Russian space station to meet the challenges of providing secure access to space (for Russia)."

...the laboratory module, docking system and scientific power platform Russia intends to use for its follow-on space station are set for launch to the ISS over the next few years after lengthy delays due to funding woes and technical problems.

The statement did not discuss the fate of the oldest Russian components of the International Space Station — the Zvezda service module, the Zarya storage compartment, and smaller docking ports. Most of the older Russian modules will have spent more than 20 years in orbit by 2024, well beyond their original design lifetimes.

posted 02-24-2015 08:47 PM               

Just to further explore Roscosmos' statement, what in essence they are saying is that if they are going to invest in launching new modules to the space station by 2020, and if the U.S. is only going to support the space station through 2024, then Russia will recupe its investment by removing those new(er) modules rather than deorbit them and use them as the core for a new outpost.

That, of course, assumes:

1. Russia actually launches the MLM and associated modules by 2024, and
   
2. the U.S. doesn't again extend the ISS to 2028 (or beyond), in which case Russia might delay its own plans for those new(er) modules.

posted 03-28-2015 06:42 AM               

Russia's space agency Roscosmos and its US counterpart NASA have agreed to build a new space station to replace the current ISS when its life cycle expires.

"We have agreed that Roscosmos and NASA will be working together on the program of a future space station," Roscosmos chief Igor Komarov told a news conference on Saturday.

The two agencies will be unifying their standards and systems of manned space programs, according to Komarov. "This is very important to future missions and stations."

...the next goal for the two agencies is a joint mission to Mars, NASA chief Charles Bolden told journalists.

Roscosmos and NASA are working with each other and other partners on a global roadmap of space exploration, Bolden said. "Our area of cooperation will be Mars. We are discussing how best to use the resources, the finance, we are setting time frames and distributing efforts in order to avoid duplication."

posted 03-29-2015 08:51 AM               

The agency responded to comments made by the head of Roscosmos, Igor Komarov, earlier in the day that suggested the two space agencies had not only agreed to extend operations of the ISS to 2024, but also to replace the ISS with a new station of some kind after 2024.

...In a statement provided to SpaceNews March 28, NASA spokesman David Weaver said the agency appreciated the Russian commitment to extending the ISS, but did not confirm any plans for a future space station.

"We are pleased Roscosmos wants to continue full use of the International Space Station through 2024 — a priority of ours — and expressed interest in continuing international cooperation for human space exploration beyond that," Weaver said.

Weaver added that the US was interested in international cooperation to support the agency's long-term goal of human mission to Mars in the 2030s. He did not directly address Komarov’s comments, but said NASA's current emphasis was on operations of the ISS.

posted 04-16-2015 12:31 PM            

By 2023 we are going to create our own national orbital station in orbit… We will definitely bring this project to fruition, and, no doubt, it will be under our control.

From the national station, of course, we will be able to see the whole territory of our vast country.