Uniform orbit inclination for Russian, Indian, US stations to make flights safe — expert

MOSCOW, September 1. /TASS/. A uniform orbital inclination for the orbits in which Russian, Indian, and US space stations are planned to be deployed could enhance crew safety by enabling flights and exchanges between the stations, Sergey Yazev, a leading researcher at the Institute of Solar-Terrestrial Physics of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a professor at Irkutsk State University, told TASS.

He noted that since 1967, Soviet and later Russian manned spacecraft have used orbits with an inclination of 51.6 degrees relative to Earth's equatorial reference plane. The International Space Station (ISS), which is currently operating at the same inclination and is scheduled to be deorbited and crash into the Pacific Ocean in 2030, also travels in that orbit.

"This orbit will continue to be used. By the mid-2030s, at least three national orbital stations are planned to operate in the ‘Russian’ orbit with an inclination of 51.6 degrees: the Russian Orbital Station (ROS), the US commercial Axiom Station, and the Indian space station Bharatiya Antariksh. A uniform orbital inclination will allow, if necessary, for flights and crew exchanges, which will increase the safety of crews in space and expand the potential capabilities of the new space infrastructure," the scientist said in a conversation with TASS.

It became known last week that India has approved the first module of the Bharatiya Antariksh Station (BAS), a proposed Indian space station planned for completion by 2035. The station is designed as a low-Earth orbit platform and is linked to India’s human spaceflight program under the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO).