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Energia announces tender for concept of operating new orbital station

The initial price of the contract amounted to 9.6 million rubles

MOSCOW, February 16. /TASS/. Energia Rocket and Space Corporation has announced a tender for the development of a concept to operate the projected Russian Orbital Station, according to data from the website for government’s purchases.

"The purpose of the events is to prepare a reasonable position on the intended use and purpose, as well as the business model of the manned version of the Russian Orbital Station to establish technical requirements for the functionality, configuration and consumer qualities of the ROS; identification and analysis of potential stakeholders in the implementation of the project for the construction and operation of the Russian Orbital Station," the company, which is part of Roscosmos, said in the terms of the tender.

It is assumed that the contractor will determine the tasks and purpose of the orbital station in the context of world trends in the utilization of low Earth orbit, Russia's interests in the current geopolitical and socio-economic situation, as well as the outlook for the development of international and Russian cosmonautics. It is also planned to determine the optimal business model of the ROS, partners and sources of financing, and to create a so-called possible catalog of services.

While carrying out the tasks, it is planned to hold a number of meetings and round-table discussions, and to prepare an explanatory note to be titled "The Projected Business Model of the Russian Orbital Station." The initial contract price is 9.6 million rubles (about $130,000).

In April 2021, Yury Borisov, who at that time was Deputy Prime Minister, said that the state of the ISS leaves much to be desired, so Russia could focus on creating its own orbital station. At the moment, its conceptual designing is underway. In October 2022, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov told reporters that the preliminary cost of creating a promising Russian orbital station was already estimated.

Deputy General Designer of Energia Vladimir Kozhevnikov has said in an interview with TASS that the launch of the first module, for research and energy generation, is planned for the end of 2027.