Energia Corporation to draft conceptual design for new Russian space station under 2.7 bln ruble contract

MOSCOW. May 5 (Interfax) - The Russian State Space Corporation Roscosmos has signed a 2.7-billion-ruble contract with the Energia Rocket and Space Corporation to develop a conceptual design for a new Russian space station, according to data from the government procurement website.

The contract between Roscosmos and the Energia Corporation has been signed as part of a research and development program, titled "The creation of the space complex of the Russian orbital station."

The price of the contract is almost 2.7 billion rubles, according to the website.

The effort to develop a conceptual design for a new Russian space station will involve two stages, Roscosmos said.

"The first stage includes analyzing scenarios of the final orbit's deployment and inclination, calculating the cost of delivering 1 kg of cargo to the station, deploying the station's initial configuration and spacecraft's transfer from the orbit of the Russian space station to lunar orbit," Roscosmos said.

The second phase involves developing a conceptual design and technical requirements for the station's variants and exploring different communication options for the new station, the issues of crews' training, and the station's functioning with and without crews on board, it said.

As reported, Russia has decided to build its own space station and is considering its withdrawal from the International Space Station (ISS) project, citing the deterioration of the technical state of the Russian segment aboard the ISS.