Russia to launch orbital lab "Oka-T" in 2015

Russia will launch an orbital laboratory in 2015, according to the head of the Russian Federal Space Agency Roscosmos on Tuesday.

The lab, called Oka-T, would serve the crews of the International Space Station (ISS), Anatoly Perminov told the Rossiyskaya Gazeta paper.

Oka-T would be an autonomous spacecraft that would support experiments on space technologies and material sciences in the environment of microgravity.

The lab would dock to the ISS only when transmitting laboratory results, replacing or maintaining research equipment and bringing supplies, he said.

The eight-ton orbital lab could also be used to develop microelectronic and nanoelectronic technologies, producing alloys, composite materials and biological substances, he added.

The lab is now being jointly manufactured by several Russian space corporations. It will serve for at least five years.

Source:Xinhua