New Mini-Shuttle Planned

Space enthusiasts in Russia were encouraged late last week as the Cabinet gave preliminary approval to a 10-year space exploration program. The program provides for 305 billion rubles ($10.7 billion) to be spent on civil space projects from 2006 to 2015. That's less than the US space budget for one year.

The plan prioritizes the development and deployment of telecommunications and other satellites as well as the Glonass navigation system, according to the Federal Space Agency. The program also stresses the development of the Angara family of rockets and modifications of the Soyuz-2 launch vehicle.

Russia has not had a functioning weather satellite for months, and some of the country's television broadcasting satellites are past due for replacement.

Another priority of the program is the development of a new passenger spacecraft, such as the six-seat Klipper, to replace the current three-seat Soyuz-TMA. Clipper will be substantially smaller and cheaper than both the U.S. shuttle and the first Soviet shuttle, Buran, which made a single space flight in the 1980s before the program was cancelled.

Clipper will sit on the top of a rocket booster instead of the side as the US Shuttles. It will glide back to Earth as an aircraft and will be able to use regular airfields.

Russian space agency director Anatoly Perminov said Russia will build the reusable spacecraft with other countries. Russian space corporation Energiya has already build a full-scale mockup model of Clipper that was on display at the Paris Air Show.

The 10-year program should enable Russia to meet its international space station obligations if fully funded, said Russian space agency director Anatoly Perminov.

FMI: http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/rsa/rsa.html