Space. Russia: ahead with the ISS but on the moon with China

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by Andrea Bettini

24 September 2021The vice president of the Russian space agency Roscosmos Sergey Saveliev talks about projects and alliances to Rainews.it: “We will not participate in the Gateway lunar orbit station.

With Beijing we will build a research base on the lunar surface open to all ”.

On the cracks in the Russian module of the International Space Station he adds: "We know what to do to face any eventuality"

The present is the International Space Station, the future proposes the continuation of the ExoMars mission to Mars with ESA and new alliances, starting with the one with China for a research base on the Moon. Collaborations that change over time, multiple objectives. In Rome for the G20 of the Space Economy at the ASI headquarters, the vice president of Roscosmos Sergey Saveliev takes stock of the projects of the Russian space agency.

Russia has been collaborating with NASA and ESA for many years on the International Space Station project. Recently, however, there have been tensions with the United States and there has been talk of your possible step backwards. How is the current situation and what are your plans?

Transparent cooperation is one of the key principles of the International Space Station program. We will continue to work with international partners on the basis of mutual respect and trust.

The members of the ISS program have for now decided to extend the operational life of the station until 2024 but the possibility of going further is being considered. This decision is now more likely as the orbiting laboratory has become more accessible and astronauts can reach it with both Soyuz shuttles and Crew Dragon. Greater accessibility means more safety and reliability. Furthermore, since the Russian Nauka laboratory docked with the ISS on July 29, the potential for research has increased.

Cracks and an air leak were found in one of the Russian modules. What are its conditions? Are you worried?

Unfortunately the ISS has its limitations. For this we must be ready for these eventualities. Our engineers constantly monitor the condition of the Russian modules. We have all the protocols necessary to deal with emergencies and we know what to do to deal with any eventuality.

Next year the ExoMars mission rover will be launched, a project in which Roscosmos is involved together with the European Space Agency. How are the preparations going and what do you expect?

ExoMars is one of the largest bilateral projects between Roscosmos and ESA. Everyone is proceeding in line with the current schedule. The mission has a significant number of scientific and technological objectives, including the search for traces of life in the past of Mars, the study of the environment and the identification of possible risks for future human missions, the development of technology to land large loads on the planet.

Russia will also launch the Luna-25 lander in 2022. What are your plans for lunar exploration?

The Russian lunar exploration program currently includes three missions. They carry over the legacy of previous Soviet missions to the moon, which included orbiters, landers, dispatch of samples to Earth and rovers. With the Luna-25 mission we will send a lander to the moon. The orbital mission Luna-26 will study the Moon from a low polar orbit, approximately from 50-100 kilometers of altitude. Luna-27 will study the lunar regolith.

Why did you decide not to participate in the Gateway project for a space station in lunar orbit and did you choose to work with the Chinese space agency to build a lunar base?

In January 2021, Roscosmos informed NASA of its decision not to participate in the Gateway project as it was originally offered. However, given the high risk that astronaut missions entail, we proposed to continue discussing the unification of technical standards and the alignment of interfaces with the Gateway to allow for interaction between crews in case of need.

With China we have recently announced a new project: the International Lunar Research Station. The main objective is to carry out multidisciplinary research work, which includes exploration, observations, fundamental physics experiments, technology tests. It is a project open to all international partners interested in cooperating to strengthen exchanges in research and promote the peaceful exploration of space for the benefit of humanity.

The impression is that space alliances are changing. How would you describe the relations between Roscosmos and Italy?

Cooperation with ASI has a long and fruitful history.

We cooperate in three areas: remote sensing, space observation and human flight.

We maintain strong contacts both between space agencies and at the level of the scientific community and industry.