MOSCOW, Sept. 17 (Xinhua) -- Russia is expected to launch the first module of its new orbital space station in 2028, Dmitry Bakanov, the head of Russia's state space corporation Roscosmos, said Wednesday.
Bakanov said the new Russian space station would serve as a launch point to the Moon, noting that special technologies would be tested at the new station for further deployment of the infrastructure supporting human life on the Moon.
In 2022, Roscosmos announced plans to leave the International Space Station (ISS) after 2024 and begin building Russia's own orbital service station. In 2023, it announced an extension of its ISS operation until 2028.
A total of 608.9 billion rubles (around 7.3 billion U.S. dollars) has been allocated to finance the project, according to Roscosmos. ■
