Article Posted on : - Jul 09, 2010

A NASA space shuttle lifts off.

MOSCOW (BNS): China's launch vehicles are reliable and meet all safety requirements to carry out missions to the International Space Station, Russian space agency chief has said.

Russia is keen on using Chinese rockets to conduct space missions after NASA retires its space shuttles in 2011, Roscosmos Chief Anatoly Perminov has said.

�The Chinese can support the programme after (US) shuttle retirement in 2011, when Russia remains the only country to maintain ISS crew rotation.

�This is rather tough, so Russia is interested in backup Chinese vehicles,� Perminov was quoted as saying by RIA Novosti.

Five partnering countries of the ISS have sent a proposal in this regard to China and the country is yet to respond to it, the space agency chief said.

Russia is using its Soyuz spacecraft for sending astronauts to the space station while its Progress freighters conduct supply missions to the orbital station.

The US is retiring its space shuttles by 2011 after which NASA will solely rely on Russian launch vehicles to conduct space missions.