Author Topic: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development  (Read 60622 times)

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #40 on: 05/27/2022 01:57 am »
New Russian orbital station will be automatic, Rogozin said.

The head of Roscosmos Rogozin: the new domestic orbital station will be automatic.

05/26/2022 20:22 (updated: 05/26/2022 20:52)

MOSCOW, May 26 - RIA Novosti. The new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) will be automatic, and cosmonauts will only maintain it and change scientific equipment, Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, said on Thursday.

"The station will have the opportunity to observe the entire planet. We decided that the station will be automatic, the crew will participate in the delivery and installation of the payload, testing of promising space systems, repair and replacement of spacecraft blocks. A very interesting topic!" - Rogozin wrote in his Telegram channel.

He clarified that such a decision was made at a joint meeting of the RAS Space Council and the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos.

Rogozin did not rule out that the station would be named Novoross.

"The geopolitical situation imposes on us the responsibility of deploying the entire ground-based space infrastructure to service the station exclusively on the territory of Russia and carry out launches from the Vostochny cosmodrome," the press service of the state corporation later quoted the head of Roscosmos as saying.

Earlier, Rogozin said that the decision on the date for the end of Russia's work on the International Space Station (ISS) had already been made, but Roscosmos was not obliged to publicly announce it and would notify partners a year before the termination of cooperation, as provided for by international obligations.

https://ria.ru/20220526/stantsiya-1790967215.html

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #41 on: 05/27/2022 02:00 am »
Rogozin spoke about plans to create an automatic orbital station.

The head of Roscosmos Rogozin: the Russian orbital station will be automatic.

05/26/2022 22:17 (updated: 05/26/2022 22:26)

MOSCOW, May 26/ Radio Sputnik. The head of Roskosmos, Dmitry Rogozin, said that the Russian orbital station will be automatic, and if necessary, the crew will be able to control it.

The discussion of the creation of such a station was discussed at a joint meeting of the Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos.

“The station will have the opportunity to observe the entire planet. We decided that the station will be automatic, the crew will participate in the delivery and installation of the payload, testing of promising space systems, repair and replacement of spacecraft blocks,” Rogozin wrote in Telegram.

He later clarified that the station would be able to receive long-term manned expeditions, but "in general, it will operate in automatic mode."

“This is not a hotel for astronauts and tourists, but a robotic multifunctional platform for highly detailed observation of the Earth and near-Earth space, the control of which, if necessary, will be transferred to the crew,” Rogozin said.

Earlier, Sputnik radio reported that Rogozin spoke about the attempts of Europeans to recapture customers from Roskosmos.

https://radiosputnik.ria.ru/20220526/stantsiya-1790986871.html

Offline owais.usmani

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Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #43 on: 05/27/2022 02:33 pm »
1/4. Yesterday, Roscosmos and the Council on Space of the Russian Academy of Sciences discussed the design, purpose and orbital parameters of the proposed #ROSS space station. It was decided that ROSS would be able to observe the whole planet..

https://twitter.com/katlinegrey/status/1530071194359193600

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #44 on: 05/30/2022 09:36 pm »
Roskosmos prepares NEM for launch.

Rogozin, General Director of Roskosmos, announced the start of preparations for the launch of the NEM.

21:14 30.05.2022

MOSCOW, May 30 - RIA Novosti. Roskosmos will not wait for the completion of the preliminary design of the new Russian orbital service station, but will prepare the Science and Energy Module for launch as its first element, Roscosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said on Monday.

"I'll explain what needs to be done there. We need an additional module for it, for the NEM, which will have power gyrodines inside it, allowing it to keep this structure in orbit. We will apparently start doing this immediately," Rogozin said at the Cosmonautics Center and aviation" at VDNKh.

"We have agreed on the scientific and energy module (with the government of the Russian Federation - ed.), so we will not wait for the completion of the preliminary design of the Russian orbital service station," he added.

Rogozin explained that the NEM module is in a high degree of readiness, and it can be delivered to the International Space Station at the turn of 2024-2025 . However, Russia will not do this, since there is no point in this, given the imminent completion of the operation of the station.

The government, according to Rogozin, agreed with the proposals of the state corporation, and now the rocket and space corporation Energia is preparing the relevant documents.

https://ria.ru/20220530/roskosmos-1791881689.html

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #45 on: 05/31/2022 01:11 am »
Roscosmos reported that #NEM which would become the first module of ROSS, will be equipped with gyroscopes for the attitude control of the station. When I visited RCS Energia in April 2021, I was told, it isn’t planned to add gyroscopes to this module.

https://twitter.com/katlinegrey/status/1531339287018487810

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #46 on: 06/01/2022 01:12 pm »
Roscosmos has not yet decided on the timing of Russia's withdrawal from the ISS project.

Roskosmos: there is no decision yet on the timing of Russia's withdrawal from the ISS project.

14:00 06/01/2022

MOSCOW, June 1 - RIA Novosti. The decision on the timing of the termination of work on the ISS and the start of the deployment of a new Russian orbital station has not yet been made, Dmitry Strugovets, head of the Roscosmos press service , told reporters.

According to Moskovsky Komsomolets, on May 26, the head of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Sergeev, at a meeting of the Space Council of the Russian Academy of Sciences, said that the decision to terminate the functioning of the ISS had already been made and there was a discussion about what the new national station should be.

"The final decision on the date of deployment of the new Russian orbital service station will be made as part of the work on its draft design. Until that moment, Roscosmos has been working together with partners on the ISS," Strugovets said.

Earlier, Roskosmos CEO Dmitry Rogozin said that the decision on the end date for work on the ISS had already been made, but the Russian Federation is not obliged to publicly report on it and will notify partners a year before the termination of cooperation, as provided for by international obligations.

Now Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is working on a draft design of a new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). In particular, the station's orbit will be chosen during the design process - the ROSS will either be left in the same orbit in which the ISS flies, or placed in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 97 degrees in order to see the Arctic and observe the Northern Sea Route. The preliminary design of the ROSS should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, after which the development of design documentation will begin.

https://ria.ru/20220601/mks-1792347120.html

Offline JayWee

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #47 on: 06/01/2022 01:46 pm »
Now Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is working on a draft design of a new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). In particular, the station's orbit will be chosen during the design process - the ROSS will either be left in the same orbit in which the ISS flies, or placed in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 97 degrees in order to see the Arctic and observe the Northern Sea Route. The preliminary design of the ROSS should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, after which the development of design documentation will begin.

https://ria.ru/20220601/mks-1792347120.html
Is there any advantage to crewed EO platform? I thought these ideas died in the 60ties.

Offline Timber Micka

Now Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is working on a draft design of a new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). In particular, the station's orbit will be chosen during the design process - the ROSS will either be left in the same orbit in which the ISS flies, or placed in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 97 degrees in order to see the Arctic and observe the Northern Sea Route. The preliminary design of the ROSS should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, after which the development of design documentation will begin.

https://ria.ru/20220601/mks-1792347120.html
Is there any advantage to crewed EO platform? I thought these ideas died in the 60ties.

In the 1980s, ESA wanted to have a platform in polar orbit in the 2000s in addition to the Colombus MTFF station but that was canceled in the early 1990s. The UK was the principal investigator for the programme.

At the same time, NASA had considered a similar concept of a polar platform, which would have brought a scientific dimension to the Shuttle polar orbit flights. To save costs the platform was to reuse as many elements as possible from the Space Station Freedom program. Shuttle polar orbit flights were canceled due to the Challenger disaster.

Offline marcus79

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #49 on: 06/01/2022 08:42 pm »
Now Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is working on a draft design of a new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). In particular, the station's orbit will be chosen during the design process - the ROSS will either be left in the same orbit in which the ISS flies, or placed in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 97 degrees in order to see the Arctic and observe the Northern Sea Route. The preliminary design of the ROSS should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, after which the development of design documentation will begin.

https://ria.ru/20220601/mks-1792347120.html
Is there any advantage to crewed EO platform? I thought these ideas died in the 60ties.

It's supposed to be a kind of hub for different kinds of satellites and platforms. I think the crews would be doing repairs, not actually doing the observing themselves.

Russia needs to maintain a human spaceflight programme that is independent to sustain its self image, so I assume a station is the cheapest option available alongside the participation in the ILRS (in fact there may turn out to be a convergence between the two if the Ryvok concept comes to fruition). Given this underlying requirement, they must have sought to make as much use of it for other purposes, as well as to bring the MoD on board (and vice-premier Yuri Borisov, responsible for defence and space industry, is one of the driving forces behind it).

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #50 on: 06/01/2022 10:46 pm »
After weeks of panicking headlines, Russian space officials back-pedaling on the inevitability of withdrawal from #ISS. In fact, Roskosmos spokesman now quoted as saying that the end of the program will be coordinated with partners and with phasing-in of the new Russian station.

https://twitter.com/RussianSpaceWeb/status/1532018646930923522

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #51 on: 06/01/2022 10:48 pm »
Gyroscopic module is back on the list of Roscosmos' post-#ISS station components... exclusively illustrated by yours truly. More visuals, full specs in the subscription section:

https://twitter.com/RussianSpaceWeb/status/1532014488999936003

Offline Asteroza

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #52 on: 06/01/2022 10:57 pm »
Now Rocket and Space Corporation Energia is working on a draft design of a new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS). In particular, the station's orbit will be chosen during the design process - the ROSS will either be left in the same orbit in which the ISS flies, or placed in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 97 degrees in order to see the Arctic and observe the Northern Sea Route. The preliminary design of the ROSS should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, after which the development of design documentation will begin.

https://ria.ru/20220601/mks-1792347120.html
Is there any advantage to crewed EO platform? I thought these ideas died in the 60ties.

It's supposed to be a kind of hub for different kinds of satellites and platforms. I think the crews would be doing repairs, not actually doing the observing themselves.

Russia needs to maintain a human spaceflight programme that is independent to sustain its self image, so I assume a station is the cheapest option available alongside the participation in the ILRS (in fact there may turn out to be a convergence between the two if the Ryvok concept comes to fruition). Given this underlying requirement, they must have sought to make as much use of it for other purposes, as well as to bring the MoD on board (and vice-premier Yuri Borisov, responsible for defence and space industry, is one of the driving forces behind it).

Hrm, man tending freefliers/ polar observation platforms does segway nicely into a revenue stream of doing maintenance of commercial earth observation sats if they are of the large variety. That's not entirely unreasonable. Imagine a persistent platform freeflier functioning much like the A-train set of sats, that can have new payloads delivered and propellant refueled.

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #53 on: 06/04/2022 10:14 am »
Roskosmos and the Russian Academy of Sciences have chosen an orbit for the Russian orbital station.

Rogozin: "Roskosmos" and the Russian Academy of Sciences have chosen an orbit for the Russian orbital service station.

11:40 04.06.2022

MOSCOW, June 4 - RIA Novosti. Roscosmos and the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) have chosen the orbit in which the new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) will fly, said Dmitry Rogozin, CEO of the state corporation.

"We decided on the inclination of the orbit, which will give us a colossal amount of information," he said on the air of the Rossiya 24 TV channel .

He added that the developers understand what the new station will consist of and in what order its main modules should be launched into orbit.

Rogozin did not specify which orbit the experts chose. However, two possible options were previously reported - a polar one with an inclination of 97-98 degrees and the same one on which the ISS flies - with an inclination of 51.6 degrees. The use of the first would make it possible to observe almost the entire territory of Russia and a significant part of the Arctic , while about 15% of the territory of the Russian Federation is visible from the current ISS.

https://ria.ru/20220604/kosmos-1793103128.html

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #54 on: 06/06/2022 11:06 pm »
Pathogenic bacteria may emerge at station based on ISS modules, scientist says.

Currently, three options are being considered for the creation of the ROSS.

6 JUN, 08:45

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. The creation of Russia’s orbital service station (ROSS) using the modules of the International Space Station (ISS) may lead to an emergence of potentially pathogenic bacteria which damage materials, Director of the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) Oleg Orlov said.

"The option of creating the ROSS using the ISS modules will lead to the transfer of the microbiota to the new modules, will accelerate the process of their biocontamination which will result in potentially pathogenic bacteria and technophiles participating in the process of the biodestruction of materials emerging at the ROSS," the institute cited him as saying at a joint meeting of the Russian Academy of Sciences’ Space Council and the Presidium of the Scientific and Technical Council of Roscosmos.

As an example, the scientist cited a failure of commutation equipment during the 24th expedition on the Mir orbital station due to the activity of microorganisms.

According to him, currently three options are being considered for the creation of the ROSS: a mid-latitude orbit with a tilt of 51.6 degrees based on the modules of the ISS’ Russian segment, an orbit with a tilt of 51.6 degrees based on the new modules and a polar orbit with a tilt of 96.8 degrees.

Earlier, General Director of the Roscosmos space agency Dmitry Rogozin in an interview with the Russia-24 TV channel said that the agency had determined the inclination of the ROSS’ orbit as well as its architecture and content in general.

https://tass.com/science/1461299

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #55 on: 06/06/2022 11:08 pm »
Biomedical center pushes ahead with research into protection from cosmic rays.

It was stressed that it was possible to neutralize the risk of protons affecting cosmonauts as a result of solar flares, including by predicting such events.

6 JUN, 08:52

MOSCOW, June 6. /TASS/. Scientists at the Bio-Medical Problems Institute under the Russian Academy of Sciences are pushing ahead with research into ways of protecting future crews of a space station in a polar orbit from galactic cosmic rays and solar flares, as follows from a report released by the institute’s director, RAS member Oleg Orlov.

"In a polar orbit, the risk of exposure to galactic rays grows considerably. Work is underway to create adequate methods of protection from them. Means of monitoring exposure to heavy particles, both individual and common, are being developed, in combination with research into the real effects of galactic rays on various organs of the human body. This question is being studied, and means that would allow for easing this risk factor are being developed," Orlov said in the report issued Monday.

He stressed that it was possible to neutralize the risk of protons affecting cosmonauts as a result of solar flares, including by predicting such events.

Both local and personal means will help achieve a proper level of crew’s protection. "New protective materials are already being tested," he said.

Also, in polar orbits, the harmful effects of electrons will increase, in particular on "the skin and organs of vision during extra-vehicular activity." This risk can also be overcome with the help of protective gear, Orlov said.

https://tass.com/science/1461303

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #56 on: 06/08/2022 01:47 am »
Rogozin spoke about the orbit of the ROSS flight.

Head of Roscosmos Rogozin: ROSS will be created in orbit with an inclination of 96-98 degrees.

04:06 08.06.2022

MOSCOW, June 8 - RIA Novosti. The Russian orbital service station will be created in a high-latitude orbit with an inclination of 96-98 degrees, Dmitry Rogozin, director general of Roscosmos, told RIA Novosti.

Earlier, he said that Roscosmos and the Russian Academy of Sciences ( RAN ) have chosen the orbit in which the new Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) will fly, but did not specify which one.

“I have always advocated a high-latitude orbit. Because in an orbit with an inclination of 51.6 degrees everything is clear and has long been studied, we cannot continue to work within the framework of manned astronautics without forming a task for ourselves that is fundamentally different from what has already been completed that the Soviet and Russian cosmonautics already have," Rogozin said.

He believes that flying in an orbit with an inclination of 51.6 degrees, on which the International Space Station currently operates , makes it possible to calmly study a person in outer space. This task, according to the general director of Roscosmos, has been completed, and Russian scientists have studied the features of human flight "in all nuances."

A station in orbit with an inclination of 96-98 degrees would be ideal for Earth observation , Rogozin said. The cosmonauts will fly in, put "expensive and high-precision" equipment, in particular, infrared and radar observation, on the outer side, maintain and repair it. Faulty units can be delivered to Earth to be replaced later.

"The station will essentially operate in automatic mode, that is, it will fly without a person and perform these tasks, and the equipment will turn on when a person has the least impact on this equipment," he added.

In addition, the launch route of the ship during the flight to the new station from the Vostochny cosmodrome will pass over land, which will reduce the risks for the crew in case of emergency situations. When starting from Vostochny to a station with an orbit of 51.6 degrees, a rocket with a ship would fly over the Pacific Ocean for a long time , Rogozin explained.

Earlier it was reported about two possible options for building a new station: in a polar orbit with an inclination of 97-98 degrees or the same orbit in which the ISS flies - with an inclination of 51.6 degrees. The use of the first would make it possible to observe almost the entire territory of Russia and a significant part of the Arctic , while about 15% of the territory of the Russian Federation is visible from the current ISS. At the same time, when building a new station in the old orbit, it would be possible to use the newest Russian ISS modules - Nauka and Prichal, sent into orbit in 2021.

Now the Rocket and Space Corporation ( RKK ) Energia is preparing a draft design of the ROSS. The preliminary design should be completed in the third quarter of 2023, after which the development of design documentation will begin. In addition, Rogozin said that the Science and Energy Module (SEM), originally built for the ISS, but never sent to it, would be prepared to become the first module of the new station, without waiting for the completion of the preliminary design.

https://ria.ru/20220608/kosmos-1793877961.html

Offline Rondaz

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #57 on: 06/19/2022 10:05 am »
More useful for the country, more dangerous for people: what is known about the ROSS station.

08:00 06/19/2022 (updated: 08:20 06/19/2022)

MOSCOW, June 19 - RIA Novosti, Nikolai Guryanov. Roskosmos has finally decided on the main parameters of the future Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS), which should become an outpost in space after the withdrawal from the ISS project. Where she will fly and what functions to perform - in the material of RIA Novosti.

Divorce from the ISS

Russia has decided in principle to withdraw from the ISS project. Preliminarily - in 2025, but the deadlines may be extended, Roskosmos promised to notify foreign partners a year in advance about the exact date . It all depends on several factors, including the technical condition of the station.

In recent years, the deterioration of its elements has become more and more noticeable. For example, air leakage from the Zvezda module was repeatedly recorded. Earlier, the CEO of RSC Energia, Vladimir Solovyov, predicted an “avalanche-like” increase in system failures after 2025.

The fate of the ISS after the withdrawal of Russia is still unknown. They planned to attach part of the elements to the Russian national station, but this idea was abandoned. The problem is not only that the modules are outdated physically and morally (both statements are also relevant for the Russian segment "Science" attached a year earlier, which grew old while still on Earth ), but also in the final decision of Roscosmos to send the national project to another orbit.

Now the United States (which financed the ISS project for the most part) and other countries are considering different options for the fate of the common home of cosmonauts and astronauts. The post-Russian extension of the life of the ISS is complicated by its design: it is the engines of the domestic Zvezda module that are responsible for correcting the station's orbit and correct position in space. It is simply impossible to separate this segment - the ISS will cease to exist. According to Solovyov, recently the Americans are inclined to flood the structure.

space lego

The station, which is being developed by RSC Energia, does not have a preliminary design - it should be prepared in the third quarter of 2023. But there is a clear concept. The head of the Russian Academy of Sciences  Alexander Sergeev  compared it with Lego: the architecture is open, all elements are easily replaced with new ones, which makes the life span unlimited.

An idea of ​​the structure of the station is given by the projects published by Roskosmos. ROSS will be similar to the Soviet Mir, only bigger. At least five permanent elements are connected via the node module (their number can be increased in the future).

Without waiting for the completion of the preliminary design, Roskosmos is preparing the first element for launch into orbit - the scientific and energy module (NEM), which has been assembled since the early 2010s for the ISS, but in recent years it has been decided to make it part of the domestic station. NEM is already "in the hardware" and is being finalized.

The module provides all the necessary systems for autonomous flight: control panel, orientation gyrodines, kitchen, toilet, berths, and so on. On the video , where the NEM is captured, you can see a model of an android robot - perhaps some of the work at the station will be performed by the descendants of the famous "Fedor" ( FEDOR ).

Unlike the international project, the main scientific equipment of the ROSS will be placed not inside, but outside - on the outer side.
"The nadir (pointing down. - Ed.) board should be provided with surveillance and relay equipment. The anti-aircraft board should be equipped with equipment for observing outer space, including as part of asteroid and comet security," explained Dmitry Roskosmos CEO Rogozin in his speech at the Royal Readings in January.

Unlike the ISS, the Russian national station will not be inhabited, but visited. Most likely, a crew of two to four people will fly in once or twice a year for about two months to service equipment and control especially complex processes. The rest of the time, the tasks will be performed by automation. The reduction in the stay of astronauts is due not only to the development of technology, but also to a special - more dangerous - orbit.

Skeptics, in principle, doubt the need to build an expensive station, which will be attended by people. Thus, Vladimir Surdin , a senior researcher at the P.K. Sternberg State Astronomical Institute, in a conversation with RIA Novosti noted that ground-based telescopes will cope with tracking potentially dangerous space objects much better than instruments that can be installed on ROSS. And for Earth observation, much cheaper satellites are enough.

But officials believe that it is too early to rely on automation in everything. "An important feature of the design of the station should be its high maintainability, the ability to change the target equipment and individual units. One cannot do without human participation," Rogozin said in an interview with Russian Space magazine.

Space technology is still difficult to maintain without human intervention, according to science journalist Mikhail Kotov .

“The ISS without people on board would not have worked even a quarter of the time that it exists,” he says. “Astronauts are needed all the time: they are engaged in repairs, checking modules, testing. The international station over the years has become more and more like a village house: hands are constantly required Tweak here, check there, change that. So far, there is not a single system of robots that could replace a person at least in avatar mode."

dangerous orbit

In early June, Dmitry Rogozin specified that the national station would operate in orbit with an inclination of 96-98 degrees (the ISS has 51.6). This will allow you to fly practically from pole to pole and observe any point on the Earth. Including Russia, while the ISS route covers approximately 20 percent of the country's territory. From the board of the international station, the northern regions are not visible at all, Moscow and St. Petersburg - only at a strong angle. Through the ROSS portholes, astronauts will be able to properly view their homeland from a height of 300-350 kilometers.

“The orbit is quite interesting,” says Vladimir Surdin. “It’s called sun-synchronous. If you fly in it not very high from the Earth, the device will always move over an area that is equally illuminated by the Sun. For example, over a terminator - a line between day and night. Such orbits are usually chosen for reconnaissance satellites to see long shadows from objects on the ground and determine their shape."

Every hour and a half, the station will pass over the Arctic , where, as Rogozin notes, the economic interests of the state are concentrated. In particular, the Northern Sea Route runs there.
"Navigation tracking, as well as an understanding of the development of the ice situation, the main oil-bearing regions and pollution, will give a tremendous economic effect," emphasizes Vladimir Solovyov, General Designer of RSC Energia.

According to Rogozin, such an orbit will open up new prospects for science - flights along the ISS trajectory have exhausted themselves in this sense.

“Because in orbit with an inclination of 51.6 degrees everything is clear and has been studied for a long time, we cannot continue to work within the framework of manned cosmonautics without creating a task for ourselves that is fundamentally different from what has already been completed, what the Soviet and Russian cosmonautics," said the head of Roskosmos.

A lot of research is being carried out at space stations, but the main task of habitable orbital objects is to serve as a laboratory for studying humans in space. But people cannot stay at a high-latitude station for a long time, it is dangerous for health.

“In the polar regions, the radiation belts come close to the surface of the Earth. That is why there are auroras. For a person, this is an unpleasant circumstance. It is impossible to spend half a year or a year in orbit under such conditions, as the cosmonauts and astronauts on the ISS did," points out Surdin .

In general, the level of exposure at a high-latitude station will be about 30 percent higher compared to the ISS, Vyacheslav Shurshakov , head of the radiation safety department for manned space flights at the Institute of Biomedical Problems of the Russian Academy of Sciences , explained to RIA Novosti .

Of particular danger to astronauts are solar proton events - high-energy streams of protons and ions as a result of a solar flare or coronal ejection. According to Shurshakov, if they increased the radiation dose ten times in the ISS orbit, then at the high-latitude station they can increase it fifty times.

The good news is that the Sun has low activity right now. This period sometimes lasts for decades, but with low solar radiation, the share of influence on astronauts of galactic rays increases, from which it is more difficult to protect themselves. And this type of influence has an extremely unpleasant effect.

“Memory may be disturbed, a person begins to think worse, and not once in old age, but right during the flight,” the expert emphasizes.

On the ISS, such radiation did not exceed half of the total dose received by astronauts, while at a high-latitude station, the share will increase to two-thirds.

Roskosmos is not trying to downplay the threat. “Of course, such an orbit implies a higher level of radiation, and this will affect the duration of the flight of the expeditions,” Rogozin admitted . “But we must not forget that the station is not important in itself. It is important as a carrier of unique equipment with enormous capabilities. Its task is to not conducting experiments on people, but the uninterrupted operation of the target equipment provided by the crew."

It is not yet clear how more dangerous conditions will affect the tourist attraction of the future station. Previously, the tourist module was planned to be included in the ROSS, but it disappeared from the latest published projects.

The high-latitude orbit has another important advantage: when launching from the Vostochny cosmodrome, a significant part of the rocket flight will pass over land. If the inclination were lower, they would fly over the sea - and this creates high risks for the crew in the event of an accident.

Space service station

In deciphering the abbreviation ROSS, it is no coincidence that there is the word "service": the main function of the station is not scientific, but service. It will launch other vehicles into orbit, repair them, assemble them from several modules into a single whole.

One of the most interesting elements should be the spacecraft maintenance platform. The possibility of its interaction with the tug, which will deliver the satellites to the ROSS, and after repair, return to the working point, is assumed.

A similar function is endowed with the Chinese space station Tiangong. They want to bring an observatory into the same orbit with it, which from time to time will dock with the station for service work.

Another possible task of the platform is to send satellites from the station, similar to how small satellites are now launched from the ISS with a robotic arm.

Finally, the third type of work that ROSS systems are expected to be able to perform is the assembly of large structures aimed at more distant space: the massive elements of an interplanetary ship are put into orbit from Earth in parts, where they are assembled into a single whole using a spacecraft maintenance platform . For example, they talk about the interaction of the national station with the promising project of the fuel and energy module (TEM), also known as the Zeus nuclear tug.

“So far, this is a very distant future. When creating the station, we assume that it will work for a long time, so it is desirable to foresee all the promising possibilities for its use,” Kotov believes.

Withdrawal and delivery

It is planned to send ROSS into orbit from the territory of Russia. The Baikonur Cosmodrome , leased from Kazakhstan , is unsuitable for both technical and political reasons. "In the event of instability in a neighboring country, there would simply be nowhere to launch rockets to the national station," Kotov explains. Therefore, the launch will be made from the Amur space rocket complex (SRC) at the Vostochny cosmodrome, where construction and installation work continues .

The station modules themselves will be delivered into space by the heavy Angara-A5 rocket. Her third (and last at the moment) test flight from the Plesetsk cosmodrome was officially recognized as successful, but it was not possible to put the payload model into the target orbit. The first tests of the Angara on Vostochny were scheduled for the end of 2023 - the beginning of 2024.

The cosmonauts will get to the station on the advanced Orel spacecraft. This transport system, which will replace the legendary Soyuz, is currently under development. According to the project, the ship will accommodate two to four crew members. The first test flight (unmanned) is scheduled for 2024.

The creation of ROSS will take place in two stages. First, the NEM will be sent into orbit. This was planned for the period between 2026 and 2030. The second stage is 2030-2035, when it will be possible to withdraw other modules, but their construction has not even begun yet.

As a rule, the timing of the creation of spacecraft is strongly shifted to the right. So, the Nauka module was supposed to be launched to the ISS in 2009, but this was only done in 2021. They wanted to send the NEM into orbit in 2015, but it is still not ready. Considering that the projects of the launch complex, launch vehicle and spacecraft required for the ROSS are also far from completion, it can be assumed that the timing of its launch into orbit will change.

As RAS President Alexander Sergeev said last year, the cost of creating the station can be compared with the amount that Russia allocates to maintain activity on the ISS.

"Axiom" and "Heavenly Palace"

Russia is not the only country that is developing a national space station project. Now the Chinese visited "Heavenly Palace" is operating in orbit. The base module has been flying around the Earth since April 2021. This year, two more will be added to it, including an experimental one. Thus, Tiangong will become the world's third multi-module station after the Soviet Mir and the ISS, although the number of elements will be less than theirs.

"Heavenly Palace" rotates at an altitude of 340-450 kilometers, orbital inclination - 41.5 degrees. There are currently three taikonauts on board who will spend six months in space. They must complete the assembly of the station.

While the future of the ISS remains uncertain, US private company Axiom Space is building its own space station. If successful, it will become a commercial orbital "office" - there are no such in the world yet. They want to launch the first module into orbit in 2024. He will first join the ISS, and then separate and go on a solo flight. In total, the station will have several components. Unlike ROSS and Tiangong, Axiom Station is planned to be permanently inhabited.

https://ria.ru/20220619/ross-1796203043.html

Offline Lars-J

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Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #58 on: 06/21/2022 06:13 am »
I was deeply skeptical about this station, but deciding to put it in an SSO orbit makes me even more deeply skeptical, for several reasons:

- The performance loss to SSO makes it a far trickier station to reach than ISS. Less cargo on Progress, Soyuz may not reach it all (and if it does, with razor thin margins). They might have to wait for their next-gen capsule on Angara 5, but that will be much more expensive and add a long pole in the schedule.
- Crew launch and landing safety. Presumably they will launch northwards from Vostochny, but the abort zones will be very remote or in the Arctic Ocean. And landing opportunities over Russia or Kazakhstan will presumably be fewer per day. (Depending on their preferred landing area)
- Crew radiation exposure at SSO, supposedly greater than at ISS.

No, despite as cool as a space station in polar orbit sounds, I predict this SSO decision will be reversed or the project cancelled.
« Last Edit: 06/21/2022 06:16 am by Lars-J »

Offline russianhalo117

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Re: Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) Development
« Reply #59 on: 06/21/2022 06:22 am »
I was deeply skeptical about this station, but deciding to put it in an SSO orbit makes me even more deeply skeptical, for several reasons:

- The performance loss to SSO makes it a far trickier station to reach than ISS. Less cargo on Progress, Soyuz may not reach it all (and if it does, with razor thin margins). They might have to wait for their next-gen capsule on Angara 5, but that will be much more expensive and add a long pole in the schedule.
- Crew launch and landing safety. Presumably they will launch northwards from Vostochny, but the abort zones will be very remote or in the Arctic Ocean. And landing opportunities over Russia or Kazakhstan will presumably be fewer per day. (Depending on their preferred landing area)
- Crew radiation exposure at SSO, supposedly greater than at ISS.

No, despite as cool as a space station in polar orbit sounds, I predict this SSO decision will be reversed or the project cancelled.
2.1b version from Vostochny is required to launch Standard Progress and Soyuz Spacecraft expected of the MS-M (MS-Modernized / working name).

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