Overview
- Oleg Orlov said a Roscosmos scientific council supports separating Russia’s ISS modules around the station’s 2030 retirement to form the core of a Russian Orbital Station.
- The plan would reuse Zarya, Zvezda, Poisk, Rassvet, Nauka, and Prichal, replacing earlier timelines that called for launching entirely new ROSS modules starting in 2027.
- Russia intends to remain part of ISS operations through 2028 before shifting focus to the national outpost that would add new modules after separation.
- Officials now target a 51.6‑degree orbit to enable crew and cargo launches from Plesetsk and Vostochny, a shift reinforced by recent damage at Baikonur.
- Long‑standing air leaks and reported microbial overgrowth in the Russian segment have raised safety questions domestically, even as Energia pursues a separate patent for a rotating artificial‑gravity station without a set timeline.