Russia hopes to launch carrier rocket which will compete with SpaceX
As the head of the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center Andrey Kalinovsky reported, the first launch of the Russian-made carrier rocket “Proton lite,” which can compete with the SpaceX rockets, will take place in 2018, Russian Interfax news agency reported.
According to him, the project is “at a crucial stage.” “We are in a process of finalizing some procedural questions, working out schedules and technical requirements. We hope that the first launch will take place in 2018,” Kalinovsky said.
According to Kalinovsky, the carrier rocket will be cheaper than those from SpaceX. “The rocket will be a competitor to SpaceX. There are several options. The task is to make maximum use of those components that are available for us.We are trying to increase the payload capabilities of Proton for both ascent and descent,” he said.
American company SpaceX is the first in the world to launch the Dragon spacecraft using the SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and then successfully land the rocket on a barge in the ocean.