US, Russia Lunar Transport System Compatibility Will Help In Emergencies - Roscosmos

KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 06th October, 2022) ENNEDY SPACE CENTER, Florida, October 6 (Sputnik) - Making lunar transportation systems of Russia and the United States compatible is expedient because that will allow the two countries to use each other's capabilities during emergency situations, Roscosmos Human Space Flight Programs Executive Director Sergei KENNEDY SPACE CENTER (Pakistan Point news / Sputnik - 06th October, 2022) rikalev told Sputnik.

"We are creating our own transport system that will allow us to fly to the lunar orbit, maybe in the future to land on the moon, but it is really expedient to make the systems compatible, because this will again allow us to organize some kind of rescue in emergency situations, to be able to help each other," Krikalev said. "And therefore, the possibility of using transport infrastructure to study space and the Moon and, so to speak, use each other's capabilities to provide assistance in emergency situations, it is actually expedient. We will continue to work in this direction."

Krikalev also reminded that in 2017, during a conference in Australia, it was officially announced that Russia was taking part in the Gateway project.

"Then, based on the results of technical studies on the Russian side - it was not an American initiative, but the Russian initiative - we stepped aside a little, so to speak, but until the last moment we say that interaction is possible and expedient," he said. "And, by the way, the Americans also emphasize this, because we are building our own transport system."

Russian cosmonauts will be able to set foot on the lunar surface by 2030, Russian space agency Roscosmos head Yuri Borisov said on Tuesday.

In 2017, Roscosmos and NASA concluded an agreement on the joint creation of the Gateway lunar orbital station, but later former Roscosmos Head Dmitry Rogozin said that Russia could not afford to participate in this project, since it was assigned an insufficiently large role. Rogozin later confirmed that Russia was not interested in the Gateway project, citing the existence of the country's own lunar initiative.