Russia’s Own Space Station Will Use AI and Robots

Russia plans on creating its own orbital outpost that is more advanced than the current ISS by using artificial intelligence and extravehicular robots.

“We want to make a station whose efficiency factor will be several orders of magnitude higher than that of the ISS,” says Roscosmos CEO, Dmitry Rogozin. With this, Rogozin mentions that the new space station of Russia will operate largely on artificial intelligence, extravehicular robots, and robotics.

The use of artificial intelligence will help Russia’s cosmonauts control and service the Russian Orbital Station (ROS) autonomously while the extravehicular robots will autonomously carry out tasks such as refueling, replacing expendables, and other service and repair responsibilities.

On the other hand, the robots will be assisting in spacewalks, inspections, and assemblies. While these tasks are no different from what other robots in space are already doing, Russia also plans on having their robots provide psychological and information support to the activities of their cosmonauts.

Aside from the goal to develop an orbital outpost that is more advanced than the International Space Station, Russia also plans on using this outpost as a prototype for future systems of lengthy inter-planetary flights.

Rogozin states that this can be achieved in conjunction with their Zeus nuclear-powered space tug. “This will be a completely new generation of orbital modules. The new station will feature open architecture and similar modules will replace each other when they use up their service life,” Rogozin says.

While Russia plans on deploying the new Russian Orbital Service Stations (ROSS) with stationed robots in five to six years, there are already a few robots exploring space as we speak. News such as these are indications of how robots can help humans advance in more ways than one.