General Studies- III (Awareness in the fields of Space)
Gist Of Editorials
26 April 2021
After more than two decades of international cooperation in space research, Russia, recently, announced that it would be withdrawing from the International Space Station in 2025.
- Russia has also announced to build and manage its own floating laboratory that will be launched into orbit by 2030.
- The decision to leave also comes at a time when relations between Russia and the US have been steadily deteriorating on multiple fronts, with the two powers also accusing each other of militarising space.
The Space Station:
A space station is essentially a large spacecraft that remains in low-earth orbit for extended periods of time.
- It is like a large laboratory in space, and allows astronauts to come aboard and stay for weeks or months to carry out experiments in microgravity.
- The Mir space station of the former Soviet Union, and later operated by Russia, was functional from 1986 to 2001.
- The International space Station (ISS) has been in space since 1998.
- It has been known for the exemplary cooperation between the five participating space agencies: NASA (United States), Roscosmos (Russia), JAXA (Japan), ESA (Europe), and CSA (Canada).
The recent US-Russia space rivalry
Russia has been a crucial player in making the ISS a success, with other space agencies relying on advanced Russian modular space station construction technology to build the space station in the initial years.
- Russia was also indispensable because of its Soyuz passenger vehicle, which served as the only way for transporting astronauts to the ISS ever since the US retired its Space Shuttle Program in 2011.
- This monopoly of Russia ended last year, however, when the US started to use the SpaceX system developed by Elon Musk.
- Next year, the US is also expected to have another domestic option apart from SpaceX, as Boeing’s delayed Starliner capsule is expected to become operational.
Russia’s plan:
Russia now plans to build and manage its own space station, which it aims to launch into orbit by 2030.
- According to an Interfax report, its space module is being assembled by the Energia Corporation, and is set to cost at least $5 billion.
- The station will reportedly orbit the Earth at a higher latitude, enabling it to better observe the Polar Regions, especially since Russia plans to develop the Arctic sea route as the ice melts.
Significance for Russia:
Building a new station would also help Russia tide over challenges that its cosmonauts currently face on the ageing ISS, such as conducting experiments and adapting the latest technology to a hardware architecture that is over two decades old.
- Russia would manage the space station itself, but has left the door open for other countries to join.
- Last year, Russia rejected a US offer to be a part of the Artemis program, and last month signed an agreement with China to jointly develop a lunar base.
Source: Financial Times
