There are currently problems with a Russian space freighter attached to the ISS. For safety reasons, the freighter has to be uncoupled from the ISS in order to then burn up over the Pacific. Moscow's project to operate its own space station is not affected by this.
Despite ongoing problems at the International Space Station (ISS), Russia is sticking to its plans to build its own orbital station. The station's design planning will be completed by the end of 2023, the chief designer of the planned Russian orbital station (ROS), Vladimir Koschevnikov, said in a recent interview with the state news agency Tass. Problems with another space transporter from Roskosmos had previously become known.
The space freighter Progress MS-21, which has been attached to the ISS since October, has a leak. There is a pressure drop in the cooling system. The incident did not affect the work of the ISS crew, the Progress MS-21 had already completed its task, said the head of the Russian manned space program, Sergei Krikalev, at the weekend.
According to Roskosmos, the unmanned space freighter will be decoupled from the ISS at the end of the week and then burn up over the Pacific. "The situation is somewhat similar to what happened to the manned space shuttle Soyuz MS-22 in mid-December," Krikalev admitted. An error in the Soyuz MS-22 meant that the space capsule could not be adequately cooled.
In order not to endanger the cosmonauts, Roscosmos has decided to send the ferry back to Earth unmanned and instead bring the astronauts back with the successor ship, the Soyuz MS-23. Meanwhile, Moscow is sticking to the plans for its own space station - also because of the tensions with western partners as a result of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
The first module should therefore be set up by the end of 2027. For the supply of the "ROS" rockets of the type "Angara" are provided, said the designer Koschevnikov. In the future, the crew will no longer launch into space from Baikonur in Kazakhstan, but from the new "Vostochny" cosmodrome in Russia's Far East.
