Russian space agency funds plans for new spacecraft
MOSCOW - The Russian space agency yesterday ordered design work to start for a next-generation spaceship capable of flying missions to the moon, setting the ground for a potential new space race with the United States.
MOSCOW - The Russian space agency yesterday ordered design work to start for a next-generation spaceship capable of flying missions to the moon, setting the ground for a potential new space race with the United States.
The space agency granted the state-controlled RKK Energiya company the $23 million contract for the initial work on a reusable craft to replace the 40-year-old Soyuz.
The as-yet-unnamed craft could emerge as a potential competitor to NASA's prospective Orion spaceship.
Design requirements for the Russian craft appear similar to Orion's specification, prompting some experts to nickname it "Orionski."
Orion is due to begin carrying humans to the International Space Station from 2015 and to the moon from 2020.
Alexei Krasnov, the chief of manned space programs for the Russian agency, said last week that the prospective Russian craft was set to make its maiden flight before 2020. He did not elaborate.
James Oberg, an experienced aerospace engineer who worked on NASA's shuttle program and is now a space consultant, wrote in a commentary that the new Russian space program could help NASA win funds for its plan to return astronauts to the moon.
"This will give NASA a long-hoped-for boost in Congress by echoing the space-race motivations of the 1960s," Oberg said.
Energiya beat the Khrunichev company, the other leading state-controlled spacecraft builder, for the prestigious order. The news was announced on a government Web site.
Energiya has until June 2010 to complete the initial design. The company builds the Soyuz and its unmanned cargo version, Progress, which are not reusable.
Krasnov said the new spacecraft could carry a crew of six and a payload of 1,100 pounds to orbit the Earth. The Soyuz carries a crew of three.
The new spaceship should also be capable of delivering a crew of four to lunar orbit, Krasnov said last week.
Windfall oil revenues of recent years have allowed the Kremlin to spend more on the space program, which suffered badly in the post-Soviet economic meltdown. But with Russia facing its worst financial crisis since 1998, the government may find it hard to fund the ambitious program.
