The European Space Agency (ESA) will decide in December whether to co-operate with Russian space agency Roskosmos on developing the Energia-designed Kliper six-person crew-transfer vehicle. The ESA Council will be presented with a plan to invest $1.8 billion in the project. Russia is also hoping for investment from Canada, India and Japan.
Kliper has been included in the draft Russian federal space programme for 2006-2015, which calls for a 33% increase in funding for 2006-2007, to Rb24 billion ($800 million), says Roskosmos chief Anatoli Perminov. The Ministry of Economic Development-endorsed plan also includes completion of the Russian segment of the International Space Station, a new Mars probe to land on the moon Phobos, and an upgrade and expansion of the Glonass navigation satellite system.
Source: Flight International
