MOSCOW. May 30 (Interfax) - The Russian private space company SR Space, formerly known as Success Rockets, is working on a reusable first stage of the Cosmos delivery vehicle, SR Space General Director Oleg Mansurov said in an interview with Interfax.
"We are working on a geophysical rocket, which is reusable by definition - it lands by parachute. This time, the first stage of the Cosmos delivery vehicle, an orbital class rocket, may be reusable," Mansurov said.
Methane engines, which the company is working on, will provide reusability of the rocket's first stage, he said.
"An advantage of methane is the possibility to reuse [stages] without full disassembly, cleaning and so on," Mansurov said.
The Cosmos two-stage rocket will bring small satellites into orbit. It will deliver 100-kilogram payloads to a low near-Earth orbit, and 50-kilogram payloads to a solar-synchronous orbit. The rocket has a takeoff mass of 7.15 tonnes and a length of 18.5 meters. Its launch will cost 100 million rubles.
Meanwhile, the Progress Rocket and Space Center of Roscosmos is developing the Amur-SPG methane-fueled rocket with a reusable first stage.
As reported, the Amur-SPG technical design will be finalized at the end of 2024. The rocket will replace the Soyuz-2 LV family currently in operation.
Another reusable rocket is being designed by the Makeyev State Rocket Center of Roscosmos. On February 9, Makeyev General Director, General Designer Vladimir Degtyar said the R&D stage of the Corona reusable rocket project would be accomplished in 2023-2025 in collaboration with Roscosmos enterprises. The rocket will have minimal payload delivery costs and could be reused up to 100 times, he said.