Video Caption: Russia will look to wind down its cooperation on the International Space Station (ISS) while stepping up cooperation with China on the creation of a lunar station in the coming years, the head of Russia’s space agency said in an interview with the China Global Television Network (CGTN) on Friday.

Editor’s Note: In brief, Russia will honor commitments to ISS through the current end date of 2024. Rogozin thinks negotiations to extend station operations — NASA wants a 2030 end date — would be difficult with current tensions over the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He said Russia plans to launch its own space station in 2027-28, on which it might work with China.

Translated from Russian by Google Translate

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — On Tuesday, January 25, 2022, at the XLVI Academic Readings in Cosmonautics (“Royal Readings – 2022”), Vladimir Solovyov, General Designer for Manned Space Systems and Complexes, spoke about the plans for the development of the Russian manned space program.”

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — In 2021, a decision was made to start the preliminary design of the Russian space station. The creation of a Russian space station will allow the Russian Federation to maintain its presence in low Earth orbit and ensure the fulfillment of a wide range of tasks. Based on the results of the preliminary design of the station, decisions on its appearance and orbit will be made. It is not excluded that foreign partners will be allowed to participate in the project of the new orbital station.

MOSCOW (Roscosmos PR) — Roscosmos Director General Dmitry Rogozin spoke about promising projects in the Russian rocket and space industry during his December 3, 2021 speech at the First ‘Space Integration’ Business Forum of the Eurasian Economic Union.

On the Angara-1.2 light carrier rocket launch timing
‘We will launch the light Angara in the first half of the next year.’

On modernization of the Zenit launch complex for the prospective Soyuz-5 rocket (Baiterek space rocket complex)
‘Physical work on the Baiterek complex will begin in March next year. All necessary documents have been agreed upon.’

On the first launch of the Soyuz-5 rocket
‘The rocket (Soyuz-5) will be able to fly in December 2023.’

• Roscosmos head discussed launching cosmonauts from Kourou with French counterpart
• Russian-Chinese lunar south pole base is rival to planned U.S. facility
• Russia to begin design work on new Earth orbiting station by late summer

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Roscosmos is exploring the possibility of launching spacecraft from the Guiana Space Centre in South America that would carry cosmonauts to the new Chinese space station and a base that Russia and China plan to build at the lunar south pole, according to media reports. Russia is also beginning work on a new Earth orbiting space station.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Russia recently marked the 25th anniversary of the entry of the Proton rocket into the international commercial marketplace. On April 8, 1996, a Proton-K booster with a DM3 upper stage launched the Astra 1F geosynchronous communications satellite built by U.S.-based Hughes for Luxembourg’s SES from Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

by Douglas Messier
Managing Editor

Well, this is interesting. And by interest, I mean what cynics had been predicting all along.

In the space of a couple of weeks, Russia’s plan for the future of the International Space Station (ISS) shifted from full withdrawal in 2025, to gradual withdrawal and the launch of a new Russian-only station beginning in 2025, to we’re fine with extending ISS to 2028 and we’ll start launching our new station then.