Points To 'Reliability' Of Its Spacecraft In A Post-Shuttle World

Russia says the end of the U.S. Space Shuttle program marks the beginning of the "Era Of Soyuz" for transportation to the International Space Station.

"From today, the era of the Soyuz has started in manned space flight, the era of reliability," the Russian space agency Roscosmos said in a statement.

The French news service AFP reports that the Soyuz design has changed little since Yuri Gagarin first climbed aboard one to become the first man in orbit. But the Russian space agency says they have continuously improved the spacecraft, and the fact that it is still flying as the shuttle program ends is a testament to the "reliability and not to mention cost efficiency" of the older design.
 
In a nod to the U.S. Space program, the statement said "Mankind acknowledges the role of American space ships in exploring the cosmos."

But Russia is clearly basking in the fact that it now has the only vehicle capable of transporting humans to the ISS and back likely until 2016 at the earliest.

FMI: www.roscosmos.ru/main.php