KUBINKA, Moscow region. Aug 15 (Interfax) - The conceptual design of the Russian space station is undergoing an evaluation, which will be finished by the end of September, Russian space station chief designer Vladimir Kozhevnikov told Interfax on the sidelines of the Army 2023 forum.
"The conceptual design has been developed. It is being evaluated [...] The evaluation process is now in its final stages," Kozhevnikov said.
The faults detected in the design are now being fixed, he said.
"We have until the end of September to complete this work," Kozhevnikov said.
Russia has been considering building a new national space station to replace the International Space Station.
On June 16, Roscosmos General Director Yury Borisov said the state corporation had determined what Russia's future space station would look like.
The first stage of the station's construction is slated for 2027-2030. The work is due to be completed in 2032.
On July 24, Borisov said Russia had invited other BRICS countries to help build a separate specialized module for its planned new space station, where BRICS member states could conduct scientific experiments.
On Monday, Roscosmos Deputy General Director for International Cooperation Sergei Savelyev said the space corporation had yet to receive any reply from the countries invited to join the Russian space station project.
On April 10, Roscosmos First Deputy General Director Andrei Yelchaninov said in an interview with Interfax that the tentative cost of building the Russian space station stood at over 600 billion rubles. The precise estimate will be determined when the conceptual design is ready, he said.