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Photos of Klipper mockup at RSC Energia
Seems like somebody's personal photo gallery!
Getting the money to build it may not be so easy
Russian space officials on Tuesday unveiled a full-scale high-fidelity mockup of the spacecraft they hope will replace the veteran Soyuz space capsule. Descriptions of the Kliper (for "clipper ship") vehicle have been widely circulated in the space community but today’s presentation in Moscow was the most detailed yet.
+ Read Article (MSNBC)
During visit to Baikonur of NASA Deputy Administrator Frederick D.Gregory, the Russian side proposed the United States' participation in the unique project Spaceport (Kosmoport), which intends the launch of superheavy carrier rockets.
+ Read Article (Novosti)
+ Read Article (Interfax)
Editor's Note: NASA should jump on this opportunity!!
Roskosmos chief Anatoly Perminov said at the International Space Congress in Vancouver that according to Russia's federal space program for 2026-2016, Russia is going to develop a new orbital basic platform available for cosmonauts.
The Roskosmos chief said the new orbital platform "is particularly meant for development and tests of perspective interplanetary complexes and for testing the complex of new generation transport and hardware systems." The Roskosmos release reports that the complex will include a reusable system for orbiting freight and new braking mechanisms for freight delivery to the Earth and to planets.
+ Read Article (Pravda)
The Russian Federal Space Agency (FSA) is working on the project to launch a new space shuttle called Kliper. If the program is implemented successfully the first launch may take place in five years’ time, the official told the Itar-Tass news agency.
The metal hull of the craft has already been built. The 14,500-kilogram Kliper will be able to carry a six-member crew and a 700-kilogram payload. A modified Soyuz rocket, the new generation Angara booster rocket and the Ukrainian Zenit could be used for delivering Kliper into orbit, he said.
+ Read Article (MosNews)
Editor's Note: Thanks to frequent commenter Harold LaValley for the scoop!
"Russia will resume construction of a new section of the International Space Station (ISS) and will cease being a free “space carrier” for NASA, Aleksandr Aleksandrov, head of the test-flight service of Russia’s Rocket and Space Corporation (RKK) Energiya told ITAR-TASS."
+ Read Article (MosNews)
"Conventional wisdom over the last several months has been that any human return to the Moon will not—barring an unlikely crash Chinese program—take place for a decade or more. The shuttle, obviously, is not capable of such a mission, and its successor, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV), is not planned to enter service before about 2015, assuming all goes as planned. That would indicate that it will be at least that long, and perhaps longer, before humans again venture beyond low Earth orbit."
+ Read Article (The Space Review)
"Constellation Services International (CSI) envisions Russian Soyuz spacecraft used for fly-me-to-the-Moon passenger service. The entrepreneurial firm unveiled their plan for the first time during a recent Return to the Moon conference, sponsored by the Space Frontier Foundation.
CSI "is in early discussions with potential partners to find out if there is interest in a commercial lunar flight in the 2009 time frame," said Charles Miller, President and CEO of the firm in Alexandria, Virginia.
+ Read Article (Space News)
"Russia has suggested that the European Space Agency (ESA) take part in the development of a new manned spaceship, which can be used for both flights to the International Space Station (ISS) and to other planets, Anatoly Perminov, chief of the Federal Space Agency (FSA), has said during an Internet briefing.
"It is a question of a promising general-purpose spaceship, the Clipper, which is being developed by the Energia space rocket corporation," Perminov explained.
The FSA chief said, "The Clipper will take the place of the world's most reliable spaceships from the Soyuz family, which get obsolete in both the duration of the use and in components. The Clipper will make it possible to deliver six people to the ISS, not 2-3, as currently is the case. This constitutes the prospect of developing new-generation spaceships, not a shuttle. The Clipper will be adapted not only for flights to the ISS but also for research into the interplanetary space, and expeditions to other planets, including Mars".
+ Read Article (ITAR-TASS)
An article from the Russian Information Agency reveals more details of the new 6-person spacecraft under development, which is tentatively named "Clipper". It could replace Soyuz as Russia's primary orbital vehicles by 2011.
"Clippers will be used for self-contained orbital flights lasting up to 10 days; it will also serve as a base for scientific experiments. In addition, the new spacecraft will have a capacity to carry as many as four "space tourists" (Soyuz can take only one "space tourist" on board)."
"Russian engineers have begun design work on a new spacecraft that would be twice as big and spacious as the existing Soyuz crew capsules, the nation's top space official said Tuesday. The new craft will be able to carry at least six cosmonauts and have a reusable crew section."
This new design is being developed primarily for orbital use, but may be capable of use in lunar and Mars missions. It will parallel the U.S. efforts under Project Constellation, although the Russian space agency stated they were already farther along with their plans than the U.S.