MOSCOW. Nov 23 (Interfax-AVN) – The Russian M-55 aircraft is to take part in two international experiments in 2002, a spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
The aircraft is to participate in the research of the upper atmosphere along with the satellite to be launched by the European Space Agency in February 2002 with the leading role of Sweden. In case the launch is successful, the Russian M-55 is to conduct research of the upper atmosphere, with the results of the studies to be compared with those obtained via the satellite.
The launching of a second satellite with the leading role of Germany and Italy has been scheduled for July.
The M-55 aircraft was developed at the Myasishchev Experimental Machine-building Plant for the Russian Defense Ministry; it is to fly at an altitude of up to 21 kilometers. The payload mounts up to two tons. A total of four aircraft have been built in Russia, two of them have air-crashed.
New versions of the M-55 are now being designed at the plant. The experts on their own initiative are now developing the M-55Kh aircraft to be used as the first stage vehicle for delivering payload into space. The work has only resulted in a drawing of a display aircraft so far.
The M-55RTR special purpose aircraft is another variant of the baseline version; it is now being developed for India within the framework of the international co-operation of the country with Russia. The postponement of the previously fixed terms of the project can be attributed to the complexity of the inter-branch information processing systems and their employment in both Russia and India.