The releationship between U.S. and Russia has been deteriorating as investigations into Russian meddling in our last presidential election have proceeded. However, there is one area where cooperation has continued and is even expanding. That is in the exploration of space. The U.S. and Russia have collaborated on the constrution, maintenance and operation of the International Space Station (ISS). Now a new collaboration in space has just been proposed at the International Astronautical Congress that was held in Australia this week.
NASA in the U.S. and Roscosmos in Russia just signed a statement of intent to work together to construct a new space station that will orbit the Moon. Few details of the agreement are available but it is known that it is part of NASA’s plan to eventually send manned missions to Mars. The project is being referred to a deep space gateway and it was announced earlier in the year by NASA. The gateway would function as a “home” base in Lunar orbit. It would contain residential quarters and research facilities. Spacecraft would be able to dock with the gateway the same way they do with the ISS. Even though NASA is developing the heavy-class Space Launch System rocket, the gateway would have to be launched in sections and assembled in orbit because it would be too big for a single launch.
The focus of NASA space missions is subject to the whims of the politicians in Washington, D.C. During the Bush administration, NASA focused on the Moon. Then, when the Obama administration took over, the focus was shifted to Mars missions. With the arrival of the Trump administration, the focus shifted back to the Moon. In any case, whether further explorations of the Moon, manned missions to Mars or asteroid mining projects are the main focus of NASA, a gateway station orbiting the Moon would be useful to reseach and support such missions.
In a press release, NASA’s acting administrator said, "Statements such as this one signed with Roscosmos show the gateway concept as an enabler to the kind of exploration architecture that is affordable and sustainable."
NASA is cautious about committing to specific timelines for future projects but the original plan for the deep space gateway called for a one-year crewed mission at the operational station by 2030. In order to meet that goal, NASA and Roscosmos are working with private space companies on the development of new technologies that will be necessary.
The International Space Station also involves the space agencies of Europe, Japan and Canada. The letter of intent that was just signed between the U.S. and Russia does not mention these other space faring countries or what possible involvement they may have in the gateway project. At the announcement of the agreement during the conference, a representative of Roscosmos said that the project could be open to the participation of China, India, Brazil and South Africa. All of these countries have an existing agreement with Russia with respect to space exploration and exploitation.
Artist’s concept of the construction of the deep space gateway:
