Russia to Stick With ISS Till 2024 as It Preps for Moon Mission

NASAUnder President Vladimir Putin the space program has seen a measurable increase in funding.

After months ofuncertainty surrounding thelong-term fate ofthe International Space Station, Russia's federal space agency Roscosmos has announced its desire toremain inthe 15-nation program until 2024, anagency statement said late Tuesday night.

According tothe statement bythe agency's Scientific andTechnical Council (STC), asenior internal planning body, Russia will then move onto amoon mission around 2030.

"Today we determined that themain aim [for theprogram] is touse theISS todevelop our lunar program inlow Earth orbit, [before moving onto] deep space," Yury Koptev, head ofthe STC anda former Roscosmos chief, was quoted as saying inthe statement.

Roscosmos said that they envision Russian-manned spaceflight following two lines ofdevelopment over thenext decade.

Inthe near term, Russia will continue touse ISS as abase formodernizing andexpanding its domestic space assets.

Meanwhile, it will develop new technology tosupport theconstruction ofa new national space station around 2024 or 2025, which will be built onthe basis ofRussia's segment ofthe current ISS.

Russia's portion ofthe ISS, originally designed tobe theSoviet Union's Mir-2 space station, is technically capable ofserving as anindependent station, towhich new space station modules could be added.

According toRoscosmos, thenew national space station will ensure Russia's independent access tospace, provide abase forthe testing ofnew spacecraft, andeventually serve as away station forRussian cosmonauts ontheir way tothe moon around 2030.

Koptev was quoted inthe statement as saying that there is ageneral consensus within thespace agency andsurrounding industry that this path ofdevelopment is theproper course forRussia's space program.

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Russia to Stick With ISS Till 2024 as It Preps for Moon Mission