Europeans Funding Russian Kliper

It's all but official—Russia and Europe will soon embark on a cooperative effort to build a next-generation manned space shuttle. Speaking at the Paris Air Show, in Le Bourget, France, in June, Russian space officials confirmed earlier reports from Moscow that their partners at the European Space Agency would join the Russian effort to build a new reusable orbiter, dubbed Kliper. After the cautious optimism they expressed at the beginning of 2005, Russians are now confident that their European partners will be on board for the largest, boldest Russian endeavor in spaceflight in more than a decade.

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The Russians, encouraged by support from their prospective foreign partners, came to Le Bourget in June with a better, bolder Kliper than the one they were showing off just a few months ago. Instead of the wingless vehicle originally envisioned [see News, "Russians Propose a New Space Shuttle," IEEE Spectrum, February], RKK now favors a minishuttle with swept wings. It will double the cargo and crew capacity of the Soyuz capsule, replacing its venerable predecessor, which served more than four decades as the transport and resupply vehicle for the International Space Station (ISS).

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Kliper's principal mission will be to ensure that the ISS is effectively supplied and maintained, after the planned retirement of the U.S. Space Shuttle. But Russian officials hope it might also become the cornerstone of a future deep-space exploration program, which would parallel NASA's efforts to return to the moon.

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The CEV is intended to enter service after 2010, when the current Space Shuttle fleet is retired, and Kliper is expected to follow suit within two years.

From (of all places) IEEE Spectrum.

New space race, folks? Three cornered this time (American, Chinese, and Euro-Russian)? You have to wonder if India and Japan would join in this time too.