Russia has invited the European Space Agency to join its planned Clipper crewed spacecraft programme. To be developed by Energia, the Clipper is intended to replace the Soyuz TMA space taxi which is used for International Space Station crew flights.
The Clipper will be able to carry six crew, compared with the three-person Soyuz, and is seen by the Russian Federal Space Agency as a potential interplanetary craft, similar to NASA's planned Crew Exploration vehicle (CEV). Capable of independent flights, the Clipper could also be used for commercial space tourist missions.
NASA, meanwhile, is finalising its list of potential bidders for contracts to explore and refine concepts for human lunar exploration in 2015-20 and for the planned CEV. Initial six-month, $1 million study contracts will be awarded in September.
The US space agency plans to issue a request for proposals for the Spiral 1 CEV, for orbital flights, in January next year. Demonstration flights of competing prototypes are planned for 2008, leading to the first unmanned CEV flight in 2011 and first manned flight in 2014. The Spiral 2 CEV for Moon missions would follow three years behind.
TIM FURNISS / LONDON
Source: Flight International
