Kliper

Kliper ('''Клипер''', also referred to as '''Clipper''') is Russia's proposed next generation manned Spacecraft . Kliper has been associated with RKK Energia 's design proposal in the media, however two other companies, Khrunichev and Molniya , have submitted proposals.

Designed primarily to replace the Soyuz Spacecraft , it is a partly reusable Spaceplane that should be able to glide into the atmosphere at an angle that produces much less acceleration on the human occupants than the current Soyuz.

Energia's Kliper proposal is currently proposed in two versions: as a pure lifting body design and as a spaceplane with small Wing s. This craft may carry up to six people and may be able to perform ferry services between earth and the International Space Station . It has also been declared that it will be used as the crew vehicle for trans-lunar missions and may at least theoretically be used on Mars exploration.

The primary focus for its development was to reduce costs for Manned Space Flight s by using the Reusable Spaceship Approach , decrease g-forces in order to shorten the preparation time of Space Tourist s and to replace the aging Soyuz capsule design.

DEVELOPMENT

Announcement of the program

- the Soyuz spacecraft could be replaced by Kliper]]
In February 2004 FSA deputy director Nikolai Moiseyev told journalists that the Kliper project had been included in the Russian federal space program for 2005 - 15 . At that point he announced that if the program is implemented successfully the first launch may even take place in five years time. Kliper had been developed since 2000 and reportedly relied heavily on research studies as well as proposals for a small Russian Lifting Body spacecraft from the 1990s . Externally its design is comparable to the cancelled European mini-shuttle Hermes or the NASA study X-38 . It is planned to be the successor to the veteran spacecraft the Soyuz that has been built in various modifications since 1961 .

Early search for support

In 2005 Kliper was displayed in several Air Show s around Europe and Asia, in order to reach out to international partners who would be interested to co-fund and co-develop the spacecraft. The Russian Space Agency especially looked to Europe as ESA has become its major partner in space activities during the last years. In May 2005 rumours started in the press that Europe would join the Kliper project in a specially funded venture that would be part of the Aurora Programme . These rumours turned out to be correct when both Russian and European space officials announced their cooperation to build Kliper during the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget on June 10 2005 {Link without Title} {Link without Title} .

Vladimir Taneev, the leading designer of the Kliper system speculated on the contribution of Europe to the project in the following way:

The European companies will likely contribute avionics, materials, and cabin systems. Many different options are on the table, and in the near future we expect to form Russian-European working groups specialized in different subsystems and fields of design.

The Russian Space Agency as well as ESA announced that they would continue to look for other international partners such as Japan to invest in Kliper. A substantive cooperation with NASA was unlikely, due to the parallel development of America's own next generation manned launch vehicle, the Crew Exploration Vehicle (CEV).

A further element of this process was made public on October 12 2005 , when various press agencies revealed that JAXA , the Japanese space agency had been officially approached by Russia to participate in the project. JAXA has made it clear that they are more likely to join the project, if ESA does so first, which is in doubt after ESA members rejected a study for Europe's involvement in the Kliper project in December 2005. The addition of Japan would make Kliper a truly multinational project, potentially combining the rugged reliability of Russian launchers with Japanese computer technology. A greater pan-national consensus would allow for a lighter funding burden on each participant also.

Estimated costs

]]

Announcements and speculations following the February 2004 press conference suggested a development budget of only 10 billion Rubles (approximately US$350 million). However in looking at today's costs for human space travel it was clear that the 10 billion rubles figure was a rather low estimate. In May 2005 The Guardian reported that costs are estimated to be roughly $3 billion (for development and construction of Kliper until 2015) of which the bulk of 1.8 billion was speculated to come from Europe. Different sources in 2005 have reported that the money needed for the program would be 1.5 billion Euros ($1.8 billion) and on December 12, 2005 an article stated it would be €1 billion (solely in relation to development costs). [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1812755,00.html

On July 14 2005 the Russian government approved the national space program for 2006 to 2015 with a budget of 305 billion rubles (ca. $11 billion - the whole budget for the 10-year period will be 425 billion rubles = ca. 15 billion dollars The budget includes the needed funding for the Kliper program [http://www.rbcnews.com/free/20050714122650.shtml . Thus in face of Europe's denial to fund a €50m feasibility study for the Kliper project at the European space summit in December 2005, Russian space officials have announced that Russia would fund Kliper even without any European contribution. [http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,2144,1812755,00.html]

The most recent article on Kliper states that the project will incur 16 billion rubles (~$600 million) in development costs, 11 billion of that will be financed by the government and 5 billion by contractors. {Link without Title}

First launch and target for regular flights

In 2004 it was announced that it is likely that Kliper will make its first launch as early as Rocket and Space Corporation Nikolai Sevastyanov that "the first regular lift-off is scheduled for 2012, while a complete transport system will be in place by 2015."

ESA's part in Kliper - Uncertainty over European cooperation

Information About

Kliper