MOSCOW, May 12 (RIA Novosti) - Two major Russian space enterprises have agreed to develop the Soyuz-2-3 rocket to launch a new-generation manned spacecraft, a company spokesperson said Friday.
Oxana Yefimenko, the press secretary of Samara-based TsKB Progress, said the company would build the launcher jointly with Moscow Region company RSC Energia.
"The first stage of the project envisages putting 11-ton spacecraft into 200-km orbit on the Soyuz-2-3 under the Federal Space Program, in the interests of the Defense Ministry, and within international space cooperation programs," she said.
In the second stage the rocket's capacity will be upped to 13 tons to launch the Clipper spaceplane, with a possible further increase to over 16 tons after engine modernization, Yefimenko said.
Soyuz-2-3 is being designed as a crucial upgrade of Soyuz launchers for the country's ambitious Clipper project to develop a six-person spacecraft to send astronauts into orbit, and potentially to the Moon or Mars. Separate cargo pods could also be launched on a separate rocket. Both the Clipper and cargo pods would be towed to the ISS.
The Clipper's first lift off is scheduled for 2012, with the first manned flight expected a year later.
