Russia mulls joint orbital station with India, China

Moscow may propose at the July summit of the BRICS emerging economies in Russia's Ufa city creation of a joint manned orbital station with India and China, a document drafted by the expert council at Russia's military and industrial commission said Tuesday.

The experts recommend "working out the possibilities of an international manned project with BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) countries as part of a common strategy of creating technological alliances".

"We can start this work now and include the issue in the agenda of the BRICS business council in Ufa," the document reads.

In particular, Russia should make such a proposal to India and China, which have been actively developing their manned space programmes, the experts suggest.

Other perspective areas for further research could be modular rockets using methane as fuel and also the creation of an aerospace vehicle, which could be used in the future to build a sixth-generation fighter or bomber.