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Rogozin will build a station near the Moon

The Roscosmos State Corporation, led by Dmitry Rogozin, plans to start building a space station in orbit around the Moon, according to a report entitled “Roadmap to the implementation of the lunar program,” quoted by RIA Novosti. 

This large-scale work may start in 2025 with the launch of the base module. Spacecraft and lunar landing modules will dock at the space station, so that astronauts will land on the Moon. Russia’s general designer of manned spacecraft Yevgeny Mikrin has earlier introduced the concept of a lunar station. That first outpost is to be tested in the near-earth orbit. According to Dmitry Rogozin, a detailed concept of the lunar program will be framed within three months.

Director of the Russian Space Research Institute Anatoly Petrukovich considers a long-term base directly on the Moon a more interesting project, arguing that the astronauts will not be able to stay at a station in the near-moon space due to the powerful radiation. In addition, the panned module will have a limited area for large-scale scientific experiments.

Roscosmos and the US space agency NASA have also agreed on Russia joining the US Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway project. It was noted that Roscosmos was willing to participate only on equal terms.

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