Leonard David's INSIDE OUTER SPACE

Image credit: Roscosmos/Inside Outer Space screengrab

Russia’s Roscosmos is outlining a new space station, named Russian Orbital Station (ROS).

According to a recent Roscosmos posting, they emphasize its main advantage: “virtually unlimited development.”

That virtually unlimited development is thanks to the node module. “It, as a universal design part, will allow you to dock and later replace any modules in almost any quantity,” the posting explains.

The node module will be a sphere with six docking nodes and fly with minimum service systems and easy to repair. Its service life is slated to be higher than that of other modules.

Russia’s Progress supply ship maneuvered the Prichal docking module to the ISS.
Image credit: NASA

Prichal module

A prototype of such a “core” has already been tested on the International Space Station – the “Prichal” module, the posting adds.

The five-ton Prichal docking module was propelled to the ISS in November 2021 by a modified Russian Progress propulsion compartment. Prichal is a Russian word for pier and has five available docking ports to accommodate multiple Russian spacecraft and provide fuel transfer capability.

“If necessary, the old ‘core’ can be removed from orbit. It’s just that to do this, you first need to dock the new one in a different place.”

The expected service life of the ROS is 50 years.

“During this time, three generations of different modules may change,” the Roscosmos posting concludes.