Russia Is Leaving ISS, Presents Sculpture Of New Space Station ‘ROSS’

Since the dawn of the space age, we’ve grown accustomed to having just one International Space Station, where astronauts from all over the globe live, work, and explore the outer realms of our galaxy together.

However, this will soon no longer be the case.

Bringing an end to a two-decade-long partnership with the United States, Russia announced late last month it would be departing from the ISS after 2024, with plans to forge its very own space station in orbit.

It appears the country has already begun making moves on this forthcoming endeavor, with Reuters reporting that Roscosmos has offered curious space geeks a sneak peek at a model of the station, dubbed ‘ROSS’ by state media.

While most of the plans remain top secret, Roscosmos did reveal in a statement that the facility will be launched in two phases, the first with a four-module space station, and the latter with a further two modules and service platform. 

The timeline for these launches isn’t set just yet, but the space agency did confirm the final setup will have enough room to accommodate up to four cosmonauts and accompanying scientific equipment.

Head over to Reuters to take a glimpse at the model of the ROSS.

Russia's space agency on Monday unveiled for the first time a physical model of what a planned new Russian-built space station will look like, suggesting Moscow is serious about abandoning the International Space Station (ISS) and going it alone. https://t.co/PeLLP4ZjA4

— Reuters Science News (@ReutersScience) August 15, 2022

[via Engadget and Reuters, cover image via Tomas Griger | Dreamstime.com]