Russia will resume negotiations on participation in the American lunar station project. RIA Novosti reports this, citing statements by the head of the state corporation Roscosmos, Dmitry Rogozin.
Back in September 2017, it was reported that Roscosmos and the US National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) agreed to cooperate in the field of deep space research and development. In particular, the discussion was about the creation of the lunar visited platform Deep Space Gateway.
βRoscosmos and NASA have already come to an understanding on the standards for the docking hub of the future station. Taking into account serious domestic experience in the development of docking nodes, future elements of the station will be created on the basis of Russian developments, as well as the standards of life support systems,β the Russian state corporation noted in 2017.
However, Mr. Rogozin later said that Russia would refuse to participate in the Deep Space Gateway program, since it was not given a large enough role. And now it is reported that Roscosmos intends to reconsider its position: it is possible that our country will still take part in the American lunar station project.
βWe confirmed to our American colleagues who sent us a draft memorandum that we are ready to participate in negotiations. For us, not only issues related to hardware are extremely important here, but, above all, to the principle. We must look for those principles that work when making difficult decisions,β said Dmitry Rogozin.
It is expected that the main work on the creation of the lunar station will begin in the mid-2020s. It is possible that other space powers will join the project.
Source: 3dnews.ru