Rusian deputy Prime Minister Yury Borisov has said on Friday that the country is also developing a launch vehicle with all reusable elements of its own, though the United States‘ launch of SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy, a heavy-lift vehicle, was a major success for the American space industry.
According to Sputnik news reports, when asked the deputy prime minister about the progress they have made in Moscow’s project, aiming at constructing the same type of spacecraft, Borisov said, “Of course, we are working on it [projects on launch vehicles with reusable boosters] … And as for our [US] colleagues, we can only be happy for them, it is a great success.”
The US space firm SpaceX has on Thursday launched its heavy-lift vehicle, Falcon Heavy, including a Saudi Arabsat-6A satellite on board, which successfully landed the rockest back on Earth.
The US space’s development marked the first-ever commercial satellite launch and Falcon Heavy’s second ever flight, including a test launch that had taken place last year in February.
In its response, Russia’s rocket and space corporation energia had announced its plans to build a super-heavy-lift launch vehicle with help of existing components in 2016. The project was called the Yenisei and its first spacecraft is scheduled to take place in 2028, including a moon landing starting in 2030.