The Deputy Prime Minister noted that, therefore, today the country is mainly engaged in ensuring the life of the station
ST. PETERSBURG, June 3. /TASS/. Russia has conducted almost the entire cycle of scientific experiments of interest to it on board the International Space Station. This was stated on Thursday by Deputy Prime Minister Yuri Borisov during an interview with RBC at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
"We have conducted almost the entire cycle of experiments that we planned at this station. Therefore, today Russia, based on its obligations, is mainly engaged in ensuring the life of the station. And there is no special need to continue scientific experiments, especially for Russia. We have almost exhausted this limit, " he said.
According to Borisov, according to the calculations of experts, there is no need to continue investing resources and money in maintaining the ISS, it is much more profitable to start creating your own station after 2025. "We honestly warned our partners and colleagues that during this period we will begin to form a purely Russian station, with new tasks, new experiments, a new look, using all the experience of such stations available in Russia," he said.
The Deputy Prime Minister also said that Russia plans to build a new station on its own, but is ready for international cooperation. Its first module will be launched at the end of 2025. The station is supposed to be created on the principle of "lego" and replace the spent modules with new ones.
"Thus, the station becomes almost with an infinite resource of life. And it is not necessary that the crew will always be at this station. It is envisaged that the station will be able to operate in an autonomous mode, and if necessary, the crews will visit it, bring it into operation. After completing the experiments, leave the station. This also greatly optimizes the cost mechanisms for maintaining such a complex, science-intensive, technically complex facility, " he said.
The ISS project is managed by Russia, the United States, Japan, Canada, and the European Space Agency. A crew of up to 6 people can work on board the ISS. It was originally planned to complete its operation in 2015-2016. In November 2014, the participating countries agreed to use the station until 2020, and then changed these terms again - at least until 2024. In April, Borisov reported that the Russian Federation may withdraw from the ISS project in 2025.