Russia may decide to stop the construction of its segment of the International Space Station (ISS) and to use the ordered modules for the Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway (LOP-G) project, a source in Russia's rocket and space industry told Sputnik on Wednesday.

"Due to the fact that the ISS operation is planned to be terminated in 2024, and the Russian segment is still not completed, there are proposals to complete its [ISS] creation in the current configuration, and the [Russian] ordered modules will be used to expand Russian participation in the Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway project," the source said.

The source specified that the proposal concerned a node module with six ports for docking as well as a scientific and energy module that could significantly expand the space on the lunar station.

In September, Moscow and Washington signed an agreement on creation of a new space station dubbed Deep Space Gateway on the orbit of the moon, later its name was changed to the Lunar Orbital Platform - Gateway.

According to preliminary accords, Russia could build a segment that would serve as an exit for astronauts going on spacewalks. The start of the LOP-G assembly is set for 2022.

Russia's State Space Corporation Roscosmos is planning to add a total of three modules to the ISS, including a Multipurpose Laboratory Module Nauka, expected in 2019, a hub module Prichal set to arrive in 2020, and Science-Power Module-1.

Source: Sputnik News

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