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Russia to Build New Spacecraft by 2020

Posted by Zonk on from the shouldn't-we-have-ftl-by-2020 dept.

Tech.Luver passed us the word that Russia is now working on a new generation of spacecraft, presumably to help fuel its renewed space exploration ambitions. The Space-based industry is still one of the few areas in which Russia is intentionally competitive, and they intend to exploit that in the coming years. Even still, the new technologies are not expected to see use until 2020. ""A tender to design a new booster and spaceship has been announced," Itar-Tass news agency quoted Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov as saying ... Perminov did not give further details of the tender, but said TsSKB-Progress from the Volga city of Samara is likely to bid with its Soyuz-3 design of spacecraft, as well as Moscow's Khrunichev centre with Angara 3P and Angara 5P. The United States beat the Soviet Union in developing multiple-use Space Shuttle rockets, which form its current fleet of manned spacecraft. Russian space officials have said single-use spacecraft like the Soyuz-TM currently used are cheaper and more practical."

3 of 101 comments (clear)

  1. Space Shuttle by cd-w · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The United States beat the Soviet Union in developing multiple-use Space Shuttle rockets, which form its current fleet of manned spacecraft.

    ... and we now know what a big mistake that was:
    • Limited to low-earth orbit.
    • Vulnerable to damage on launch.
    • Over-complex tile-based heat shield.
    • Very expensive to launch.
    • No launch escape system.
    • Not actually very reusable at all.
  2. Revisionists unleashed! by dbIII · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The shuttle was nothing but an attempt to appease the moronic treehuggers

    Another attempt to blame a bunch of rare and disorganised hippies with no political power at all at the time for some dubious political decisions mostly about spreading the pork. The shuttle design is most likely a lot older than the poster and "moronic treehuggers" don't even have the political clout to get Kyoto signed now let alone sabotage a space program decades ago.

  3. Re:The Space Race is a Rich Nation's Game by Cyberax · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You do realize that Russian space program is mostly self-financing in the first place? You know, people pay money to launch commercial satellites.

    Besides, Russian economy is much bigger than Polish - so $10000000 for space program take less than $1 from each citizen.

    GDP per capita is very misleading: Luxembourg currently leads with $81511 (against measly $43223 in USA). So should USA just stop all scientific programs and channel all money to welfare?