Russia continues to implement an ambitious project — the creation of its own orbital station (ROS), designed to replace the home for Russian cosmonauts after the decommissioning of the ISS. The initiative is driven by both the physical and moral obsolescence of the ISS modules and the desire to ensure national independence in manned spaceflight. According to Roscosmos representatives, ROS will become a key tool for maintaining autonomous orbital infrastructure, which is especially important against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions and external restrictions.
The station will be used for conducting fundamental and applied research in microgravity, developing new life support technologies, materials science, and telecommunications, as well as for testing advanced manned mission systems, including expeditions to the Moon. It is important that ROS is designed with the possibility of modular expansion and partial automation, which will increase operational flexibility and reduce dependence on the constant presence of the crew.
Orbital architecture and logistics
According to the approved concept developed by TsNIIMash, the Russian Orbital Station will be located in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 96–98°, which will provide regular coverage of the entire territory of Russia — including the Arctic — with each orbit. This orbital mode is fundamentally different from the ISS (inclination 51.6°) and is focused on tasks of remote sensing of the Earth, weather observation, and communication with remote regions. To service the station, it is planned to use modernized «Orel» manned spacecraft (formerly «Federatsiya»), capable of delivering up to six people to orbit and returning up to 500 kg of cargo to Earth. Cargo missions will be carried out by new-generation unmanned ships based on the «Argonavt» platform, developed by RSC Energia.
Scientific and energy infrastructure
The first stage of ROS includes two key modules: the basic energy and science module (BENM) and the Prichal-2 type node module with six docking nodes. BENM will be equipped with an integrated thermal control system with a two-circuit cooling scheme and a digital control complex based on domestic «Elbrus» microprocessors.
Power supply will be provided by deployable solar panels using three-layer gallium arsenide photocells (efficiency up to 34%), which is almost twice the efficiency of the old silicon panels on the ISS. In addition, compact thermionic power plants (TEMs) developed as part of the «Zeus» program — a nuclear electric rocket engine project for deep space — may be tested at the station in the future.
Relying on domestic developments in the field of energy, microelectronics, and rocket and space technology, ROS lays the foundation for a sustainable and independent presence of Russia in near space for decades to come.
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