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Is Russian manned space technology shifting towards military applications?

17th June 2021 - 16:45 GMT | by Leonid Nersisyan, Mikhail Kotov in Moscow & St Petersburg

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Roscosmos chief Dmitry Rogozin put out a video in April 2021, showing what he said was a module for the new ROSS space station. (Photo: Roscosmos)

Plans for Russia to build its own orbital station could enable geospatial intelligence-gathering missions and onboard military experiments away from international observers.

During the St Petersburg International Economic Forum on 2-5 June 2021, Russia once again announced it is considering withdrawing from the 14-country International Space Station (ISS) programme.

Yuri Borisov, deputy prime minister with responsibility for the defence and space industries, said that Russia has already conducted all the possible experiments on the current orbital station and, according to expert calculations, there is no need to continue investing resources and money on the ISS.

Instead, Russia would focus on building its own Russian Orbital Service Station (ROSS) after 2025.

If ROSS is implemented, what will this mean for Russian manned astronautics?

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